Love is Arson
by emiliexox
Summary: Arthur is a well known arson detective and Merlin is a leading fire-fighter. What happens when they are put on an assignment together? Slash.
1. Chapter 1

**HELLO PEOPLE!!!**

**Yes I am back for another one. I just had this idea and I thought I would run with it. Let me know what you guys think. Well… here goes. :P**

**Summary:** Arthur is a well known arson detective and Merlin is a leading fire-fighter. What happens when they are put on an assignment together?

***

**Love is Arson **

**Chapter 1**

"What does it look like boss?" Lance said circling the scene.

"Definitely arson," the other man said.

"How can you tell?"

"Lance, please. How long have you known me?"

"OK," Lance said, bringing his arms up in defeat, "I'll trust your judgement."

"Thank you."

"Wow Arthur. I haven't heard you say thank you in a long time."

"Don't get used to it then," Arthur said quickly, walking past his assistant to bend over at what was left of the fire. Lance frowned slightly and walked over to join him.

Arthur cocked his head to one side as he stood up. Lance, knowing what was best for him, moved out of the way so Arthur could do his job. He swore he saw Arthur smile to himself. Arthur walked over to a large pile of ash on the right hand side of the room. Bending over, he bought a bit of it up and rubbed it in between his fingers.

"Um, excuse me," a foreign voice said, "You are not allowed to touch that. That is evidence right there." Arthur straightened up, not turning towards his attacker.

"Well, if you must know, it is my job to analyse such "evidence" as you call it. But judging by your accusations, it would seem that you do not know me." He heard the stranger shift on the spot.

"It seems that I do not. However, if you would stop being such a prat and face me, then maybe I would."

Arthur could vaguely hear sometime like_ "oh snap!" _come from Lance's mouth. He ground his jaw. No one spoke to him like that. No one. He was Arthur Pendragon, the youngest Leading Senior Detective in the history of the C.B.I (Camelot Bureau of Investigation), which was now run by his family. He had solved more cases than bones in his body, and he was one of the richest men in the country. Who dared to speak to him like that?

Arthur turned to see a young man about his age standing in front of him. His raven hair hung just above his bright blue eyes. He had high cheek bones supporting a slender face and sort of… how could he put this- oversized ears. But that did not affect the overall attractiveness of the male, because as much as Arthur did not like him at the present moment, he was quite appealing.

"And who might you be?" Arthur asked in his usual snarl. The dark haired man walked up to him and extended his hand.

"The name's Merlin friend."

"And I don't know you?" Arthur questioned.

"No you don't," Merlin said.

"But you called me… friend."

"That was my mistake," Merlin replied, smiling slightly. Arthur raised his eyebrows.

"I would never have a friend who could be such as ass." Arthur once again heard Lance speak and he felt like turning around and yelling at him to shut up.

"Nor I one who could be so stupid," he replied not taking his eyes off Merlin. Merlin stared right back.

There was silence for a while before Lance decided it would be a good time for him to step in.

"Merlin, did you say your name was? Merlin… Emrys? Aren't you the captain of Camelot Fire House 001?" Merlin took his eyes of Arthur who decided he did not want to be part of the conversation and began to survey the room again, and turned to smile at Lance.

"That is correct. My house discovered and put out this fire."

"I had heard that you are one of the best," Lance said.

"You flatter me. But that's about right." Lance smiled.

"Oh well, I'm Lance. And yeah that's Arthur. We are from the C.B.I."

"Ah," Merlin said, turning to look at Arthur, "that would explain his… coldness to anything that breathes." Lance chuckled.

"You'll get used to it. He may be the best, but he's had a long and hard trip to get there. I assume you heard about his mother a couple of years back?" Merlin nodded.

"No one really knows what happened. But, he hasn't been the same since."

Merlin and Lance both decided not to take that subject any further.

"So," Merlin said finally, "how long have you two been here?" Lance's face suddenly flicked into work mode.

"We have been surveying the scene for about half and hour now. Arthur has confirmed that the fire was arson, but nothing else."

"Well of course it was arson," Merlin said. Lance looked taken back. It had taken Arthur at least twenty minutes to conclude that. This man had not been here five minutes.

"How can you tell it was arson?" Arthur looked up after Lance spoke, stopping what he was doing.

"Simple," he said. He walked over to the opposite side of the room that Arthur was on and picked up something out of the ash. Dusting it off, he turned it for the other two men to see.

"Kerosene can. You don't find those around if it's not arson."

"Very well done Mr Emrys."

All three men turned around to see Senior Detective Constable Pendragon walk into the room.

"Sir," Lance said saluting.

"Father," Arthur answered flatly.

Uther Pendragon strode into the room, looking around quickly before speaking again.

"This site was very important to the president and his wife. It was also a heritage site which means it is on our list of priorities. As your skills seem- adequate; I would like to ask if you would help to figure out what exactly happened here."

"It would be an honour," Merlin said simply. Arthur shook his head.

"Father, how can you expect him to solve it? He has no experience with this sort of thing and-"

"And that is exactly why he will be your partner for this case." Both Lance's and Arthur's jaw dropped open. Merlin just smiled.

"That will be all," Uther said and walked out.

"What a day!" Arthur groaned.

"I don't know," Merlin said, "it's only seven in the morning."

"Shut up Merlin, if we are going to be partners for this case, you need to get one thing straight. I. Work. Alone. So stay out of my way."

"But wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the partner's thing?" Arthur threw his hands in the air.

"Damn it, this could not get any worse."

"Sir, Morgana called and wants you to go to her office right away," Lance said, tucking his phone into his pocket.

Arthur smiled to himself and shook his head.

"Judging by that," Merlin said pointing up and down at Arthur, "you shouldn't have spoken so soon."

***

**So that's the first chapter down.**

**I don't know, what do you guys think? Should I continue?**

**Thanks**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey thanks so much for the reviews last time. Well, as you can see I have decided to continue thanks to kind words. Hope I can, write it well. :P**

**Enjoy xox**

**Chapter 2**

Merlin pulled up to his apartment building in his blue BMW at about four o'clock that afternoon. Dropping his head back against the seat, he sighed. God, that Pendragon is such a clod pole! Who does he think he is? Just because he is one of the best in the business doesn't mean he can treat other people like shit.

He shook his head. And now he was going to have to be around him for as long as this case goes on. Hopefully, it will be one of the short ones. Merlin would be happy if he never saw Arthur ever again.

He opened the door to his apartment and dumped the keys on the side table. Taking off his jacket, he looked around, hoping to find sight of his roommate.

"Gwen?" He called out.

"Yeah, I'm in here Merlin," she called in the direction of the kitchen. God, was she trying to cook again? He walked into the kitchen to see half the cupboard on the bench.

"Gwen, I thought I told you that I will do the cooking in this house."

"I'm not going to burn the place down Merlin, relax. I just thought you would have liked a sandwich, after you texted me saying you missed lunch."

Merlin smiled.

"Well then, how can I reject a perfectly good sandwich? It is… a good sandwich right? I don't want to be poisoned after I just got a new assignment."

"Oh yeah that's right," said Gwen, pushing the sandwich over to Merlin who had now taken a seat at the bench, "how's it going?"

"It's going fine. Apart from the fact that my new partner hates me." Gwen grimaced.

"Really? Well that's not too good then. Do I know them? Maybe I could give them one. You know me Merlin, you know I would."

"Gwen, calm down," Merlin said. She sighed.

"Sorry Merlin, but I just don't like seeing people hurt you all the time. You are too nice for your own good. So tell me about this… guy I presume." Merlin nodded.

"Yeah, his name is Arthur."

"Arthur Pendragon. THE Arthur Pendragon. Oh God Merlin, you really hit the jackpot with that one. He is really hot!"

"Gwen," Merlin groaned.

"What sorry, I was just saying. So, is he being a complete dick to you or something?"

"Thinks he can do it all for himself. He's just… so supercilious."

"That's a big word Merlin. Do you even know what it means?"

"Yes I do Gwen. Just because you're a journalist doesn't mean you can correct my grammar all the time."

"Of course, but I still can, just for fun," Gwen said, "So what are you going to do now?"

"Just get this assignment over as soon as possible so I can get away from him."

"Really? I'd want to be around him for as long as possible. Are his arms really that big in real life?"

"Gwen! No! God no. I don't care how big his arms are. He's… he's Arthur Pendragon, the biggest prat in the detective world. Everyone knows it. And no one has ever been close to him."

"Well I don't know," Gwen said, "As much as I hate the guy, with this new assignment and all…"

"Gwen it's not going to happen."

"Ok Merlin, whatever you say," Gwen replied sarcastically and disappeared into the lounge. Merlin sat there shaking his head.

***

Arthur sat at his desk drinking his low fat, skim milk, triple shot, and no sugar cappuccino reading a book: "How to Avoid the Annoying".

"Arthur," a voice outside his office called, quickly accompanied by a banging at the door. God, why didn't the book work in real life?

"Yes, come in Morgana."

Morgana strode into the room like it was her own office, carrying a large bundle of papers with her.

"A hello would be nice Arthur. You know I have been working with you for a long time."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Hello Morgana."

"That's better," she said, "Ok I have the information and reports you wanted."

"Just put them over there," Arthur said, waving to another desk in the corner. Morgana walked over and placed them on it. He would look at them later. Morgana strode over to Arthur's desk and sat on the edge. Arthur cleared his throat and she quickly hopped off, settling for a chair just to the side of it.

"So was that new guy the one that's going to be working on the case with you?"

"Unfortunately," Arthur replied, "He's name is Merlin."

"Fascinating name. Not one you hear everyday don't you think Arthur?" Morgana said.

"Yeah, whatever."

"He's cute too."

"Morgana!" Arthur yelled. That was something he did not want to hear about… him!

"What he is? If you don't take a crack at him, I just might."

"I am not going to take a crack at him."

"Why not?" Morgana said, "He seems like your type."

"You know nothing about my type," Arthur said through his teeth.

In truth, Arthur did not have a type. He did not need a relationship. He did not need anybody. He was fine on his own. And if he was ever going to even think about starting a relationship with someone, it was definitely, positively, not-going-to-be-that-raven-haired-man.

"Whatever you say Arthur, you are not fine on your own," Morgana said.

"I am perfectly fine on my own," Arthur replied.

"No you aren't. I have not seen you eat or drink anything other than cappuccinos for weeks now. You never come out with us anymore. Its always work with you. Your father might not care, but some of us here do."

"You leave my father out of this," Arthur growled.

"You know I don't care what your father thinks," Morgana snapped, "after everything he has done to you."

"He's done nothing," Arthur said.

"Exactly!"

Arthur stood up.

"I think you should leave Morgana," Arthur said strongly.

"But Arthur-"

"Please," he looked at her, "Just go."

Morgana hesitated before walking slowly out of the room. Arthur sat down and picked up his cappuccino but then hesitated. Was he really going off the rails, or was Morgana just being her controlling and nosy self? Arthur looked over at his book. Nope, Morgana is just being annoying.

"And Arthur," Morgana said peeping through the door.

"What is it Morgana?" She looked down at her feet.

"Just think about what I said… ok?" Arthur sighed.

"Fine." Morgana smiled slightly before closing the door behind her. It was quickly opened again as Lance walked in.

"So boss, where do we go from here?"

"Well, go and get those files from over there and then we can see what we can do."

"Good idea boss," Lance said walking over to the table, groaning as he picked up the pile of papers. Arthur chuckled.

"C'mon Lance, they can't be that heavy. Even Morgana could carry them in."

"I don't know about her boss. With that mouth and nerve of hers, she was probably a man in a past life."

Arthur shook his head walking over to Lance and taking the files from him. Lance nodded his thanks and sat down next to Arthur.

"So we read these and then tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow, we go around looking for evidence more closely."

Lance nodded. Arthur stood up.

"I need a coffee."

"I'll get it for you."

"No you start organising these into evidence, history and newspaper clippings. Then we can eliminate irrelevant information." Lance nodded.

"On it boss." Arthur walked out.

"Oh," Arthur turned around, "and we need to get that Merlin guy tomorrow. He has to come with us."

"He has to come with us, or you want him to come with us?" Lance said smiling. Arthur rolled his eyes for the second time that evening.

"Just… make sure he's there ok?" Arthur shut the door behind him. Lance turned back to the papers.

"Whatever you say boss," and he went back to his task.

*******

**There you go. Second chapter down.**

**Please Review. :P**

**Next one will be up as soon as possible.**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Thanks so much for the reviews on the last chapter. Been having some problems with the internet which is why this chapter is a bit late. But… here it is.**

**Hopes you enjoy this one. :P**

**Chapter 3**

Merlin woke very early the next morning. He didn't know whether it was the dread of seeing that prat, or whether he was nervous about starting the case. Either way, he did not dwell on it for long as he quickly got dressed and sat at the kitchen bench chomping his weet-bix when Gwen walked in yawning.

"My goodness Merlin. I thought I heard someone. What are you doing up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep," Merlin said getting up and putting his plate in the sink.

"Why? You nervous about something?"

"Just the jitters of this new case I guess. It's pretty important you know."

"So I've heard," Gwen replied. Merlin smiled.

"Morgana told you. So that was who you were on the phone with last night."

"Yeah. You know this whole time that I have known her, I didn't know she worked for Arthur."

"Really?" Merlin said.

"Yeah, I guess it's something that people don't really like to share."

"I can guess why that is," Merlin murmured to himself. He stretched and then walked over to the door.

"Ok, so I have to go now."

"So soon? Merlin it's still too early," Gwen said.

"Yeah, but I wanted to stop by the station before I go to Arthur's office. You know, just to sort out some stuff for while I am not there." Gwen nodded.

"I'm sure Freya can sort it out. She's smarter than all of those guys put together." Merlin shook his head.

"I still don't understand how you two have not met," he said smiling. She shrugged.

"Well, maybe we should." Merlin decided to end that conversation there. He kissed Gwen on the cheek and headed off to the station.

***

"Good morning everyone!" Merlin said cheerfully as he walked through the doors of the fire station.

"Morning captain," Valiant said, walking past with a coffee and patting him on the back.

"How's everything going around here?"

"Everything's good so far. We got that computer that you wanted fixed last night, the hose on truck 5 is being repaired as we speak, and that new vending machine-"

"Thanks Val, I don't need to hear about the vending machine," Merlin said smiling.

"Oh right, sorry captain."

"No worries. No that's good. Number five is one of the upgraded trucks so I'm happy that that was done so quickly."

"Yeah. Freya made sure that they did it as quick as possible," Valiant said.

"Speaking of Freya, where is that girl?"

"I'm right here," Freya said running around the corner. She smiled widely when she saw Merlin.

"Hey! What are you doing here? I thought you were on a very important case for the next couple of weeks."

"Yeah, but I just wanted to make sure that you guys had everything organised and under control."

"You don't have to worry about us captain," Valiant said, "We have everything out of control."

"You mean everything under control," Freya said. Valiant looked back at Merlin who was chuckling.

"You know what I mean!" was the best that he could come up with before walking away. Merlin shook his head and turned back to Freya.

"So it looks like you've really stepped it up in my absence Freya."

"Yeah you know me Merlin. I just want everything to go smoothly while you are not here."

"You are such a control freak and you couldn't stand it if these hunks of male do not do their jobs properly which would then look bad on you which would then look bad on me as well as the entire station?"

"I love how you look after me," Merlin said.

"Well, I am your big sister," she said, "I have to look after you. It's my job." Merlin slid down the fire pole and into his office, which was as messy as he had left it. He heard Freya groan when she walked in.

"You know you should really clean this office," she said, "I don't know how you find anything."

"Well," Merlin said walking over to Freya and patting her on the back, "it is your job to look after me."

"Excuse me? I am your personal assistant and secretary not your slave. You clean that yourself." Merlin walked out the door.

"Ok Freya. See you later."

"Merlin you're an idiot!"

"I know!" she heard shortly after.

***

Merlin walked into the C.B.I headquarters at exactly five minutes to nine. He did not expect to be early, nor did he expect the headquarters to be so… sophisticated. He knew that it was a very high level of detective work, but he had not seen one person smiling the moment he walked into the building. He was every scared of the receptionist, and she was supposed to be the friendly face.

He walked over to her and introduced himself.

"Arthur's office is straight down that hall and the last door on the right," she said monotonically.

"Um… thank you," Merlin said nervously turning off towards the hall.

He met the large black door exactly where the receptionist told him. He knocked on the door and waited. Just when Merlin thought there was no one there, the door swung open to reveal a shocked Arthur standing in the doorway.

"Merlin," he said, "What are you doing here?"

"I thought we were going to…"

"LANCE!"

Merlin heard footsteps from down the hall and then puffing.

"Yeah boss?"

"I thought I told you to call Merlin to tell him to meet us at the site?"

"Oh yeah," Lance said scratching his head, "I knew I forgot something yesterday."

Arthur groaned and turned back to Merlin.

"Um… if you want me to go, if I'm invading some privacy I can leave."

"No," Arthur said, moving aside, "come in." Merlin walked in, leaving Arthur to death stare Lance in the hallway for a while until he got the message to leave.

"Hey," Lance called, "I said I was sorry."

"You're going to be sorry very soon," Arthur said and shut the door behind him.

***

Merlin had thought about what Arthur's office would have looked like, and he was would have never thought that he would have been so wrong.

Arthur's office was one of the tidiest that Merlin had every seen. All the files were packed, the desk was clean, and all the books on the bookshelf were arranged in alphabetical order. Nothing seemed to be out of place.

"What are you looking at?" Arthur asked.

"Oh nothing. This is one of the tidiest rooms I've ever seen." Arthur smiled, a genuine smile which for some reason, made Merlin slightly uncomfortable.

"I had a lot of time on my hands a little while back," Arthur said, "so I decided that I would clean my desk so I would not lose anything."

"Enough time to put your books in alphabetical order?" Merlin asked.

"Yeah. It's what my mother did," the other man almost whispered. Merlin watched him closely for a few seconds. Arthur had let his guard down right in front of him and Merlin could have chosen to ask a few questions in that time. But he chose to remain silent.

"Are we… going to go?" Merlin decided on at last. Arthur shook his head, almost trying to come back to reality.

"Um… yeah I'll just get my stuff." Arthur walked over to a pile of files on the other side of the room. Merlin had expected him to pick up to whole pile, but to his astonishment, Arthur closed his eyes and flicked through the sheets of paper. He could hear him counting to himself. After a while, Arthur opened his eyes and pulled out three pieces of paper from the pile. He looked up to see Merlin staring at him in astonishment.

"What?" he asked.

"You really have a way of remembering where things are," Merlin said.

"I find the way that works for me and if other people have a problem with that then-"

"No," Merlin interrupted, "I thinks it's fascinating."

"Fascinating?" Arthur said raising an eyebrow. "That's what people call insane people when they watch them in glass rooms."

"I didn't mean it like that. I don't think you're mad just… highly perceptive."

"It's OK Emrys. You don't have to try and cover your arse."

"No really," Merlin started.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just go." Arthur walked over to the door and opened it for Merlin. Merlin rolled his eyes and walked out, Arthur shutting the door behind them.

***

**Another chapter down. I know some people might be a bit weird about Freya being Merlin's sister. But I wanted to make sure that she had absolutely no chance of getting with Merlin in this story because he belongs to Arthur! :P**

**Please review… PLEASE!!!**

**Next chapter should be up soon.**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys!!!! I'm sorry that this chapter took so long, but I've been really busy with school. So finally, here it is :P Hope you like it. xox**

**Chapter 4**

Arthur stepped out of his long black company car in his usual black attire, with Merlin at his heels. He could almost feel Merlin's breath on his neck, almost temped to turn around and yell at him to keep his distance. But he kept his cool, knowing that he needed him on the case as well as on his side.

Lance met him at the entrance.

"Any more news from the forensic team?"

"Nothing boss," Lance answered taking that moment to snatch a quick look at Merlin who smiled at him.

"I was informed that the first lady was down here yesterday," Arthur said. Lance nodded.

"We gave her a brief about the amount of damage, but she seemed more interested in noting it for her husband, than for herself."

"Well then, then she is a bit of a-"

"Emrys watch your tongue," Arthur snapped without looking at him, "you are talking about the first lady to a federal officer." Merlin sank back a little. Lance just cocked his head sideways.

"We'd better get inside then," he managed to say, before opening what was left of the door for the two men to step through.

For the fifth time this week, Arthur observed the building. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary except for the can that Merlin had found earlier. There was no motive and all the people connected to the house, were either dead of in a nursing home. It just didn't make sense.

"Now," he heard Merlin say walking up beside him, "why would someone burn how a heritage site for no reason?"

"You were thinking no motive as well?"

"Well, we know it wasn't for the insurance. And everything has to have a motive, even no reason is a reason. It might just be a stupid one."

"I did not understand a word you just said."

"Well think of it this way: everything is something, even nothing is something, because if nothing was nothing, then that wouldn't make sense. Because nothing can never be nothing because everything takes up space, even nothing, which makes it something."

Arthur felt slightly dizzy.

"Trust you to waste my time with philosophical crap Emrys," Arthur said.

"Its not philosophical crap, its reasoning, thinking like the culprit."

"Yes, well at the moment, you are thinking like an idiot." Merlin stayed silent for a while.

"Our culprit could have been an idiot…"

"Shut up Emrys."

Arthur watched Merlin in amusement as he circled the room, his nose about a foot away from the ground. He reminded him of a retarded detective minus the magnified glass looking for clues in a 1950s children's book. Arthur hadn't had this much fun making fun of someone in ages. And Emrys was the perfect target.

Suddenly, he stopped. Arthur creased his brow in thought trying to think of what the raven haired man was doing. Merlin smiled slightly.

"Arthur!" he called. Arthur came over.

"What is it Emrys? Did you make something out of nothing?"

"No. But someone left behind something for us. Look." Arthur grabbed a glove out of his pocket and picked up a round black item. Dusting it off, it looked like a small bottle of oil.

"Gun oil," Arthur concluded.

"Gun oil?" Merlin asked, "Why would someone bring gun oil to a place that they were going to burn down? Unless they had a gun…"

"Maybe they weren't going to burn it down," Arthur said, "They were just here, looking for something."

"But this is a heritage site. And where is the gun now?"

"I don't know. And it's too late to swab this for fingerprints now so that still leaves us with nothing."

"Wait," Merlin said putting his had over Arthur's and turning the can a little to the left. On the side were two letters scratched into the can: _S.V._

"S.V.?" Arthur said. "Who in the world is S.V.?"

"And why would they engrave their initials on a can?" Lance added appearing out of no where.

"I don't know," Merlin said, "but at least you have something to start you off now eh?"

Arthur nodded looking down at Merlin's hand which was still over his.

"Um… Emrys?"

"Yes?"

"Can I, have my hand back now?" Merlin blushed slightly, quickly pulling his hand away from Arthur's. Arthur smiled and shook his head slightly before getting up.

"Have someone transport this back to the office. And get someone to run a name check on all people with a history and gun licenses under those initials."

"Yes boss," Lance said, bagging the can and walking out of the room.

Merlin and Arthur stood there for a moment in silence, looking in opposite directions. Arthur took a breathe.

"Good work Emrys," he finally settled on, "you're not as bigger fool as you look." Merlin smiled.

"Thanks. Now I know you're not as arrogant as you sound."

"Oh really?" Arthur said with a smile, "I am not arrogant."

"Yeah, just keep telling yourself that," Merlin said before walking out of the room.

"And Emrys," Arthur said. Merlin turned around.

"Can you come by the office later, you know… to do stuff?"

"Um… yeah sure," he said before leaving Arthur on his own.

Arthur stood there. _Do…stuff?_ God Arthur what the hell is wrong with you? Arthur looked around the window and watched Merlin's car drive away. Snap out of it Arthur, he thought, he's just another one in that long list of yours that you will never get to. And… he didn't even like the man. God, he was barely tolerable! He reminded him a little of Morgana, always acting like they know more than they actually do. No, Arthur thought, that a bit mean… Morgana doesn't know anything and Emrys is a professional.

"You coming boss?" Lance said popping his head around the corner, "You're father's asking for you."

"Yep, coming," he said before walking towards his car.

"And stuff....?" Gwen squeaked.

"Gwen, you are reading too much into this," Merlin groaned.

"No but Merlin don't you see, Arthur totally likes you."

"He doesn't like me. He just couldn't find the words at the time. He hates me, and I dislike him as well. The only relationship that we are ever going to have is a professional one. End of story."

"OK," Gwen said, "but what about the hand touching? He didn't tell you to get off as soon as you moved the can did he?"

"We were talking about the evidence!" Merlin defended.

"Whatever you say Merlin. I'm going to have a shower. There are some noddles in the cupboard if you get hungry before you have to go back to Arthur's office."

"Thanks," Merlin said, watching Gwen disappear.

Merlin sighed and plonked himself onto the couch. God, why does Gwen always have to go and make things so complicated? This was really getting pathetic. Arthur is… a prat! A moron, an up himself little twat! He didn't have feelings, he didn't like anyone, and he barely even spoke to anyone about anything besides work. Merlin didn't even think that he loved his own father.

He was… a riddle. Something that Merlin couldn't work out. But he didn't know if he wanted to go there. They had only been working together for a few days. They were barely acquaintances let alone friends. It would be sticking his nose too far into business that was not his to go snooping around Arthur's private life.

And in the end, what did he care? After this case, he was never going to see Arthur again was he? But… there was something inside him that… natural human curiosity that needed to know.

His mother had always taught him to think of other's needs before his own. That's what being kind was and good things will come to you in the long run. He had never know his father, and found out he had died a couple of year back. That didn't hurt for very long because he wasn't emotionally connected to the man, but it still felt like he had lost a part of him.

And that's why he knew that he needed to help Arthur become himself again… whatever that actually was.

**There you go. Another chapter down. :P**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!!!!!**

**Next chapter should be up soon.**

**Until next time, **

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews last time. And since I made you wait so long for the last chapter, I thought I would make this upload quick, since I left you on a bit of a cliffie last time. OMG and i finally figured out how to put the lines in the story. i am so smart... sometimes. that took a while. Anyways- Well… here goes :P xo **

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**Chapter 5:**

After literally scoffing down his noddles, Merlin turned into the hall that Arthur's office was located in. Even though it was a plain hall, with a couple of pictures on the wall, it was like he noticed something new every time he walked down it.

Looking at the right hand wall, he noticed two pictures next to each other. One was of Uther Pendragon, emotionless wearing a jacket full of medals. The one to the right of that was Arthur. He had a huge grin on his face, chest puffed out, also with a jacket full of medals, but a fair few less than his father. To the left of Uther, there was no one. But if you looked closely, you could see that there was a rectangular space of the wall that was lighter than the wall around it. Merlin guessed that was where his mother's photo would have been. But why would he take it down? Maybe he didn't want to see her every time he walked down the halls because it hurt him so much.

Merlin felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to a meet the eyes of a young attractive woman with dark hair and pale skin, quite like his own.

"Hello there," she said holding out a hand, "you must be Merlin." Merlin smiled taking the hand that was offered.

"And you must be Morgana." She nodded.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Gwen talks about you often."

"As she does you," Merlin said. Morgana put a hand flat to her chest and sighed.

"She does? Naw, that's really nice. I hope the things that she says are good."

"You shouldn't be worried," was all that Merlin said in reply. Morgana nodded in satisfaction.

"You know the whole time she said she has known you; she didn't know that you worked for Arthur?"

"I know," Morgana said her face lighting up, "she said that to me the other day. I wonder why I never mentioned it. Of course, most people think it would be the first thing you tell someone, like it is some sort of honour. But, I just treat it like working for any other person. Sure, he's good at what he does, but that doesn't make him special." Merlin nodded his head.

"I should get to Arthur, he's waiting for me."

"Oh yeah sure. But hey, maybe you me and Gwen could go for coffee some time, you know to get to know each other better."

"Yeah that would be great," Merlin said, "See you."

"Bye then," Morgana said and continued past Merlin turning a corner to the left.

Merlin continued up to Arthur's door and was about to knock when it was swung open, along with an argument.

"I told you Arthur, I will have no more of this!"

"But father…" he heard Arthur plea.

"No. I don't want it mentioned again. Not in my presence. Just do your work and that is all. I will not have you disrespect me or my judgement again!"

Merlin moved aside as Uther strode past him, completely ignoring his presence.

* * *

Merlin was scared to go into the room, so he settled on poking his head around the corner to peek in. What he saw completely shattered him.

Arthur was leaning against the desk, hand at his forehead, shoulders hunched over, breathing heavily. Merlin could hear faint sobs coming from the other man's mouth. There were books all over the floor and papers everywhere. Merlin walked slowly over to him not knowing whether Arthur had seen him enter the room.

"Arthur." Arthur quickly looked up at him eyes wide.

"How… how much did you hear?"

"Just the part when he walked out," Merlin said. Arthur nodded and turned away from him.

"You were not supposed to hear that," Arthur said, "or see… any of it."

"Well I'm sorry for being here," Merlin said and walked towards the door. And he almost made it out too.

"Wait," he heard Arthur whisper, "don't go." Merlin sighed, and walked over to the man with his back to him. He had a sudden urge to put a hand on his shoulder, but did not.

"Your father was out of line," Merlin said.

"You don't know that," Arthur said.

"I know that this was not the place for it… whatever it was. And no father should yell at his son like that, it's not right."

"How would you know Emrys?" Arthur almost spat, "You never even had a father."

Merlin would have kicked him where it hurt right at that very moment, until he realised…

"How did you know that?" He felt Arthur tense up next to him.

"I… I don't," he stuttered.

"Yes you do. And the only person that knows is Gwen and I sure know as hell that she didn't tell Morgana. So how did you know?"

"Well…it's obvious that you haven't had any masculine influence in your life. I mean… look at you." Merlin frowned.

"If we were not in your office right now with the door open, you would be very, very sorry that you just said that to me."

"Well, it's fine if you are.. you know." Merlin raised his eyebrows. He couldn't even say the words.

"A homosexual." Arthur nodded.

"You can't even say it. No wonder you haven't liked me from the start."

"That's not the reason," Arthur said quickly.

"I don't care what the reason is. But I need to know right now, how-did-you-know? It's not a difficult question."

Arthur stayed silent and Merlin had a realisation.

"You did some digging on me, didn't you?"

"I did not," Arthur said straightening up and turning to face him.

"Yes you did. I can tell that you are lying. What's the matter Arthur? Afraid that you couldn't trust me?"

"I don't trust anyone anymore," Arthur muttered to himself.

"I can understand that," Merlin said instantly and Arthur gaped at him slightly. He didn't know that Merlin had heard him.

"But the fact was that I didn't trust you either Arthur. And now I see that I had a reason not to. But this had nothing to do with trust. That was just disrespectful."

"Please, don't talk about respect," Arthur said, "you sound just like my father."

"Well, maybe he had a point," Merlin said quickly, causing Arthur to let his guard down slightly.

"Shut your mouth Emrys, you know nothing about my father. Or me."

"Well, Arthur, I wish that I could say the same." Arthur threw his hands in the air and walked away from him, circling the room with his head tilted towards the ceiling in utter disbelief.

"I can't believe that you are talking about this like I robbed your house. As a federal agent, I have a right to look up things that seem suspicious."

"And as a human being, I have a right to keep things private from other people," Merlin said.

"It wasn't like you had anything to hide," Arthur said, "you record is as innocent as a new born baby." Merlin waited for the insult to come.

"And?"

"And what?" Arthur said.

"Were you not going to say that my skin colour is the same as well?" Arthur looked at him strangely for a moment, and then began to chuckle, which then turned into a laugh. Merlin smiled and began to laugh as well. Arthur walked over to the door and shut it.

"I can't believe you think that I would stoop so low as to compare your skin colour to that of a new born baby."

"Well, you were going pretty heavy on the insults there," Merlin said.

"Hey, you were the one-"

"Please don't start this again," Merlin said. Arthur sighed.

"Fine."

Merlin looked around the room.

"Do you want me to help you clean up?"

"No we have to work on the case."

"Arthur, you can't work like this."

"I can. And I will. Don't worry about it."

"No. For once I am not going to listen to you. I am going to help you clean this place up and that's final. Have you ever heard the saying: a person's result is as clear as their working area?"

"Um… no."

"Good, cause neither have I, I just totally made that up."

"Well thank god for that," Arthur said, "because I was going to say whoever came up with that shit was a bit of an idiot."

"Hey," Merlin started.

"I said, I was going to say it," Arthur finished. Merlin pouted slightly before getting on his knees and picking up some books. Arthur soon followed. They cleaned the room in silence, occasionally interacting when they were exchanging items. Merlin watched as Arthur arranged his room. It was like he had a plan, like he had done this many times before.

"Arthur?" Merlin said.

"Yeah Emrys?"

"Has your father… done this before?" Arthur hesitated, knowing that he did not want to start the third argument for the day and simply nodded.

"He has temper issues?" Arthur nodded again.

"He doesn't have to take it out on you, you know," Merlin said, "It's not your fault."

"I know," Arthur said, "But he's my father. I can't just tell him to piss off after everything he has done for me."

"As what?" Merlin asked, "As a boss or as a father?"

"Both," Arthur said after a while.

"Why are you defending him?" Merlin asked.

"I am not defending him," Arthur said, "I am stating the truth."

"The truth," Merlin started, "the truth is that you are an amazingly talented person with a hard past. You do not deserve to cop any of this shit from your father for no reason at all. It's not right."

Arthur turned to look at him.

"I thought you said everything had a reason." Merlin stayed strong.

"I also said some of them are stupid, and this is one of those times."

Arthur didn't say anything more.

"Unless he had a reason for it…"

Arthur breathed heavily for a moment before walking over to his chair and sitting at his desk.

"My father… well, he has a set idea about what a man should be, and apparently I don't fit in what he believes." Merlin sat down in the available chair which had somehow ended up on the other side of the desk next to Arthur's.

"What do you mean?"

"He thinks that… real men cannot cry. Or be vulnerable, or show feelings like women do."

"What a lot of bullshit," Merlin said straight away. Arthur smiled slightly.

"But… there are other things too. Like…" Arthur groaned and shook his head slightly and rubbing his neck.

"Like what Arthur?"

"Nothing, never mind." Arthur took his hand off his neck. Merlin saw that part of it had turned red.

"Arthur you bleeding," Merlin said getting up from his chair and half kneeling to the side of Arthur.

"Its nothing," Arthur said trying to cover it with his hand, but Merlin swatted it away. Arthur tried to move away from him, like he didn't want Merlin to touch him. Like Merlin was too close for comfort.

"It's not nothing. Did your father do this to you?"

"No," Arthur said, "Not exactly. It was more like, an 'on impact' injury." Merlin gasped silently.

"He pushed you?"

"It wasn't really a push, it was more like a… nudge."

"You father hurt you Arthur. It wouldn't matter whether he flicked you." Merlin grabbed a tissue from the desk and placed it on Arthur's neck, applying a slight pressure. He felt Arthur tense at the contact, but slowly start to relax. They stayed like that for about a minute before Merlin removed the tissue, see that the bleeding had mostly stopped. Arthur handed him a couple of band aids from his top draw and Merlin put them on.

Merlin got up and Arthur moved his neck from side to side.

"Thank you," he said quickly.

"Glad to be of service," Merlin replied.

"It wasn't a service. I didn't ask you to."

"I know."

"Which is why I am saying thank you to which you are supposed to respond, 'your welcome' and no more."

"Fine, your welcome." Arthur nodded.

They sat in silence for a while fiddling with papers.

"So," Merlin said, "did you get any lead on the initials?"

"Oh," Arthur said, "nope, nothing."

"That can't be possible."

"Maybe they weren't initials," Arthur said.

"Or maybe the victim was clean."

"Or maybe it's the initials of a company."

"Or maybe it's a middle name and not a last name." Arthur stopped.

"Yeah, that could be an idea. Hang on." Arthur turned to his computer and started typing vigorously. Merlin just watched. He didn't even look at the keyboard and he had not seen him hit the backspace button once. Arthur slammed the enter button and Merlin watched as the screen was filled with lists and fast changing pictures and documents. All of a sudden something popped up.

"Edward Windsor, who also goes by the name of 'Sir Valiant.'"

"S.V.," Merlin said, "that must be our guy."

"It says here that he has possession of a gun and was convicted of armed robbery and trespassing three years ago," Arthur said.

"Robbery could have been the motive," Merlin said.

"Yeah, but there is not history of arson. And the address is over seven years old."

"So, how are we going to track him down?"

"I don't know. We need to find Lance. He might be able to talk to a few people. See if we can at least get a warrant to search this address."

"Do you think they will allow you a warrant to search an address that old?"

"It's the only lead that we have, they cannot deny us that. If they do, my father can deal with them. We have to report to the president every week, and I think that he will be most displeased if we contact him tomorrow afternoon and say that we have got nothing."

"Impressing the president and scamming the board, I like it," Merlin said with a smile.

"We haven't got it yet Emrys, so don't get your hopes up." Arthur stood up and walked out the door.

"Oh… and I just wanted to say, um… thank you, for staying with me when you could have left."

"It's OK, I know you would have done the same for me."

"I don't think I would have," Arthur said honestly, "that took a lot of courage. I think I underestimated you Emrys."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Merlin said smiling.

"I didn't say that I think you are not an idiot."

"Well I didn't say that I didn't think you were arrogant. I guess that makes us even."

"You still think I'm arrogant?" Merlin considered this for a moment.

"No, maybe just a tiny bit less than before."

"And like I said, it's fine if…"

"It's OK Arthur," Merlin said, "you don't have to explain yourself." Arthur nodded, smiling slightly and then turned to leave.

"Oh and Arthur," Merlin called out. Arthur turned around his hand resting on the door frame.

"You're welcome," he said after a long pause. Arthur nodded and closed the door.

"Well," he said to himself, "I guess one could call that progress. In a weird, abnormal sort of way."

"Are you talking to yourself Emrys?" He heard from the other side of the door.

"Aren't you supposed to be going somewhere?" Merlin replied.

"Idiot," he heard slightly and then footsteps moving away from the door.

* * *

Merlin looked at the door. Why didn't he leave? He still doesn't trust me does he? Was all that we just went through for nothing?

Arthur walked down the hall, thinking about Merlin talking to himself. Was that man insane? Does he think that I'm insane? He probably still doesn't trust me. Arthur thought about Merlin's hands on his neck. No one has ever touched me like that, so tender and caring. Arthur had felt stupid to flinch away from Merlin's touch, but at the time, he had just seemed too close to him. Like he was invading his personal space. The only thing that he could claim as him own.

The only person that could ever get that close to him, or touch him like that was… gone. He didn't even want to say her name. That Emrys boy reminded him too much of her, with her caring nature and fascination and brilliance in or about almost everything. It scared him, and Arthur was scared to be around something so familiar, yet so distant.

God Arthur you what has happened to you, you are talking philosophical crap just like that idiot. That idiot… actually cared for you, when no one else would. He knew that Morgana had known what was going on, he had heard her footsteps go past when it started. But even with her loud mouth, she was no match for her father.

"What are you doing Arthur?" he said out loud leaning on the wall. He heard someone clear their through in the direction of his office.

"Are you talking to yourself Arthur?" Merlin said with one eyebrow raised.

"Aren't you supposed to be going somewhere?" Arthur mimicked and Merlin walked away with a smile. Arthur waited and heard the words he knew would come.

"Arrogant prat," Merlin yelled.

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Well, there you go. A very long chapter by me, but I felt that it was needed.

I hope you all liked that. If you did… REVIEW!!!!!

**Next chapter coming soon**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey! I am sorry that this was so late. Don't… hate me. I just couldn't think of anything to write then I had school and the yada yada yada a zillion other reasons. But now I am back and ready to give you another chapter. Hope you like it.**

**Oh, and thanks for the wonderful feedback on the last one :P**

**Enjoy xox**

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**Chapter 6**

Arthur had not felt so happy to interrogate a suspect for a long time. Maybe it was because this particular suspect was caught running out of his three story unit because he tripped over Merlin walking up the stairs with coffee whilst trying to run in the opposite direction. It was not a sight that Arthur had seen often. Usually he just walked in alongside the policeman with the gun, stated the charge and followed them out to the car. His father would not allow him to have a gun, saying it would compromise his professionalism if something were to go wrong. So, he just let him stand behind a man in a bullet proof vest trying to act like he was brave when truly he was just being a sissy ready to jump out of the way any second.

But the best part of it all was to see Valiant being dragged away and Merlin walking up the stairs with his white shirt stained brown, handing him an empty cup with a sheer look of defeat on his face.

"That was for your trouble," he had said. Arthur had trouble staying emotionless and just decided on a curt nod.

But he didn't think that it was Merlin's fault that trouble followed him everywhere that he went. In the car, Merlin had told him on time that he was at a baseball game and out of everyone; he was sitting in a seat that was supposedly reserved for a suspected terrorist.

"They literally dragged me out of the stadium," Merlin had said chuckling at himself.

"With the secret service and everything?"

"Yeah well, at least I got to be on television."

Arthur loved to find humours things in other's misfortune. It's what made him feel more… privileged to be blessed with a life that was not so weird.

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Valiant was a largish man, 6 foot 2 dark hair, beard, tattoos down his left arm. He had a small scar underneath his right eye and a large diamond earring in his right ear. He looked like a thug, Arthur thought.

Arthur walked up to the table and sat down opposite the man.

"So…Mr Edward Windsor."

"That's Sir Valiant to you," the man snapped. Arthur grinned. This guy was serious.

"Where were you on the night of Tuesday April 23rd between 10pm and 3am?" Valiant chuckled.

"Where do you think? I was at home, where any normal person would be on a Tuesday night."

"So you want to play that game," Arthur said. He walked over to a table on the right hand side of the room, which he knew was right in front of the one sided glass where Merlin would be sitting watching him. Arthur fought off the urge to wink at the wall, not knowing wether his father would be in there or not. He settled with a small smile and nod grabbing the evidence off the table.

He placed it down in front of Valiant.

"Does this belong to you?"

"Not anymore it doesn't," Valiant said.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean what do I mean? I sold it, about three weeks ago some guy came up to me and a couple of mates asking if any of us had any gun oil. I was like yeah mate I have some, cause I haven't used a gun in years right. And then he told me to meet him back there in like two hours. So I did. He paid me a hundred and fifty bucks for it."

"One hundred and fifty dollars for simple gun oil?" Arthur asked.

"That's what I was wondering. So, I was like dude, why you paying me this much for gun oil, but all he said was, cause this is a big favour your doing for me or something."

"Did you see his face?"

"Nah mate, he wore a hat and sunglasses. And it was pretty dark. I didn't know why he wore the sunglasses though. I mean, who wears sunglasses at night, there's not even any sun?"

Arthur just shook his head.

"Thank you for your time sir. We may need to contact you in the future. You information had been most valuable."

"Glad to be of any help mate," Valiant said before standing and going with the officer out of his office.

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Arthur sat back in his chair stretching his arms over his head.

"Most valuable my ass, he couldn't even construct a proper sentence and left us standing back a square one." Arthur turned around.

"I see you changed your shirt."

"Yeah your father lent it to me."

"Emrys, I really didn't need to hear that from you."

"What?"

"That you are wearing my father's shirt. God, one would almost think…" Merlin raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

"Nothing, it doesn't matter- I was kidding," Arthur said. Merlin shook his head and walked over to sit opposite Arthur.

"So, where do we go from here?"

"Well, I think we go to the bar, see if there is anyone who saw the man's face before or during the time of the exchange."

"OK, and then what?"

"And then we ask around and Emrys, do I have to explain every single detail to you?"

Merlin smiled.

"No, I guess not." Arthur looked away.

"So, what are you doing now Arthur?"

"Nothing why?"

"Well, since we have to go to a bar anyways I was going to invite you to go for a drink." Arthur opened his mouth.

"Strictly professional of course," Merlin said quickly. Arthur nodded towards him.

"I hope so."

"But like it would looks suss if we just went in there and asked around. We should go there for an actual drink and then strike up a conversation with some regulars."

"How will we know which ones are the regulars?"

"Usually the ones that scream a lot or talk to the barmen like they know then are usually the regulars. Don't worry I know about these kind of things."

"Are you saying that I don't know about bar life?"

"No I'm just saying that maybe you have not been to as many bars as I have."

"Oh," Arthur said getting up from his seat, "and why do you think that is Emrys?"

"Because you're working all the time," Merlin said. Arthur opened his mouth and then closed it.

"I was going to say because you're desperate and I'm not but I think that could work too."

"OK and… wait, did you just say that I'm desperate."

"No."

"Yes you did, and I will tell you now that I am not." Merlin said.

"How can I be so sure?"

"How do you know what I'm not with someone already?"

"Well, are you?" Arthur asked.

"No… but that's not the point!"

"I thought you liked to keep your life private from other people. Isn't that, what did you say, your right?"

"I am not talking about my private life with you."

"You already are Emrys. And you put that on yourself."

"Just… stop. This conversation is over."

"Its not really a conversation when I win Emrys," Arthur said.

"Then what is it then? A sermon?"

"I was going to say a parable."

"Why would it be a parable?"

"Because you now learned not to mess with me when I am right."

"Right? About what?"

Arthur leaned over the table and put his face inches from Merlin's.

"That you're not with somebody." Arthur flicked his eyes from Merlin's eyes to lips. He smiled at Merlin, cocking his head to one side. Merlin sat frozen on his chair, looking into Arthur's eyes, searching them for some sort of sign. Arthur did not move for quite some time. Then he pushed himself up from the table and walked out the door. Merlin stood there for a few more seconds before running out the door calling after him.

Uther just stood a few metres away from them with his arms crossed, thinking about what he had just seen.

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**Well there you go. Another chapter down. Going for a drink and eye sex! WOOT.**

**PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW.**

**Thanks so much. I hope I can get the next chapter up soon.**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! I know- I formally give you permission to hate me. But to make up for it, I decided to make this chapter a bit long.**

**And thanks for all the reviews last time. :P**

**Enjoy! Xox**

**Chapter 7**

Arthur stood with his arms on his hips staring around his closet. He had been in this position about half an hour. He was meeting Merlin in half and hour to go to the bad. Why was he so worried about what he wanted to wear tonight? It's not like Merlin and him were going on a date or anything… Yes, Merlin had specifically said that it was strictly professional. Wait, when had he started calling him Merlin?

God, this is ridiculous, Arthur thought. You are straight! As straight as they come, and now you are worried about what you want to wear to a bar because some low life, babbling fireman coming into his life and turning it upside down.

He was ruining everything! Arthur you need to do something, something that will show Mer-Emrys that he was in charge. That he runs the show. That he cannot just waltz into his life and start making him think things that he doesn't want to think.

"Oh for shit's sake Arthur, can you stop grinding your teeth. It's so annoying even for me." Arthur turned around.

"Morgana? What are you doing… how did you get in here?"

"Your father lent me a key. And I wanted you to talk about… stuff."

"What…stuff?"

Morgana walked and sat on his bed, but Arthur shooed her away quickly. That was _his _bed.

"Um… well, the "stuff" concerns Merlin." Oh shit.

"Morgana whatever he had told you it's not true." Morgana smiled.

"Well Arthur the fact is I haven't seen him since that time in your office. And by _that _reaction, it seems he would have something to tell me. So spill!" Arthur walked out of his closet.

"There is nothing to tell."

"Oh c'mon Arthur. A hot young Captain comes to work with you who is also gay and single and you tell me nothing is going on."

"Because it's true. He may be… gay, but that doesn't mean that I am."

"Ok then, but he seems to be enjoying himself around here."

"Enjoying himself? God, he borrowed one of father's shirts today," Arthur said.

"Oh well… now it really sounds like he is making himself at home."

"Morgana!"

"What? I was just saying…"

"Yeah and I'm just saying, there is nothing going on. I would never go there. I. Am. Straight. Got. It. Question Mark." Morgana smiled.

"Ok then. Now tell me why you have been standing in your closet for half and hour if you don't care about him." Arthur's jaw dropped.

"How long have you fucking been here?"

"About the time you walked in. You walked through the door and…"

"So you didn't have a key from my father?"

"Nope."

Arthur shook his head. Morgana sighed and walked up to him placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Arthur, I know you have been through a rough time. But I want you to know that I am on your side, no matter what you think of me, or your father or Merlin. I have been your friend for years. Longer than I have worked for you Arthur and that is never going to change. You need to stop thinking about what your father thinks you should do and about what you want to do. God, you should know all this, I don't even know why I have to tell you. Hey, don't roll your eyes at me Arthur, you know I'm right."

"Oh really? And what am I supposed to do eh? I don't even know what I want. How can I do anything if I don't know? I don't want to put my heart on the line for something that I have only thought about for a minute or two and then have to face the laughter and rejection of others forever. I am not an outgoing person, I never will be, and I don't like to take risks you know that Morgana. I like things to be known, and in routine. Ever since my mother died…I don't… I just can't go through with something like that again."

"Arthur, you never told me the full story about what happened even though it was scattered in the papers for months because I know that is not what really happened. You know, I waited for you, for weeks, months after it happened, for you to open up to me and tell me but you never did. You just shut yourself away from everyone and buried yourself in your work as if nothing had happened."

"Please I don't want to…"

"I know you don't want to Arthur, but someday you are going to have to. It's killing you Arthur. The guilt, the grief, everything you have kept bottled up inside of you. You need to tell me."

"I can't."

"Yes you can Arthur. You need to do this for you. So you can move in. Your mother would not want to see you living the way you do. Not giving yourself the chance to be happy, to do things you always wanted to do. I know you wish that you could Arthur, but this guilt that you have for her death keeps holding you back. It was not your fault."

"It was my fault."

"Arthur, just stop please. It was not your fault."

"How can you say that when I never told you what really happened?"

"Are… you ready now?"

Arthur hesitated before nodding slowly.

"Are you sure? I mean I have been pushing you a bit and-"

"No, it's OK. You're right. I need to tell you. You deserve to know. She was your friend after all."

"What about Merlin? Weren't you supposed to meet him for a drink?" Arthur shook his head.

"He can wait."

* * *

Merlin sat at the bar, second drink in hand waiting for Arthur. He should have known that Arthur was likely to stand him up. He shouldn't have asked him like that. He knew that Arthur was homophobic even though he convinced him that he was not. Even though he felt fed up and angry, part of him was worried. It wasn't like Arthur not to call of text or send someone to tell him that he wasn't coming. Arthur was always very thorough in his job; he had learnt that the hard way. He liked things to be in routine. He would not just forget an appointment.

Merlin skulled the rest of his drink and set off towards Arthur's apartment.

* * *

Morgana sat there shaking. She could not believe what she had just heard. How could Arthur had kept this all to himself for so many years. It must have been eating him up inside. Morgana looked over at Arthur who for the first time in twelve years, had broken down into tears.

"If only…" Arthur sobbed, "If only I had…"

"Arthur, this was in absolutely no way no fault. You cannot blame yourself."

"But it was me who caused it."

"No one, could have had control over that Arthur. No one. Even if you were a seer, it would have been too late."

Arthur sulked in his hands. Morgana got up from her chair sitting beside Arthur. Her arms would not fit all around the large man, but she held him as well as she could. Arthur let go and cried like a baby in her arms, letting out all of the frustration and sadness that he had been keeping inside of him. As sad as it was, he felt wonderful to have told someone. To share the burden with someone else. How could his father had told him not to tell anyone the real story?

Arthur recovered slowly, and caught sight of the clock. It was 8:30, Merlin had been waiting at the bar for almost two hours.

"Oh god, I need to go to the bar."

"Arthur, you are not going anywhere, look at that state of you."

"He had been waiting for almost two hours."

"And then he can wait a little longer. Actually, if I was left for that long, I would have left after forty five."

"Damn, I didn't even call. He probably thinks I stood him up."

"Arthur its OK. He probably realised something was wrong. It's not like you to call."

Arthur nodded looking for his phone.

"Oh shit, I left it in the car. I'll have to go and get it."

"OK, I'll make you some tea." Arthur nodded.

He walked over to the door and everything went black.

* * *

"Is he going to be OK?"

"I think so."

"Oh god, I didn't mean to."

"Emrys, kindly shut up you're giving me a headache."

"Arthur, you're alive!"

Arthur chuckled, opening his eyes.

"You idiot, I wasn't even close to half dying. Now help me up." Arthur felt two people pull him to his feet and move him to the couch.

"What happened?"

"Well when you didn't turn up at the bar I got a bit worried. So I came over here and just as I went to bang on the door you um… opened it."

"So you hit me in the face?"

"I am so sorry Arthur." Arthur smiled.

"Its OK really. Am I bleeding Morgana?"

"No, I don't think so Arthur."

"Good." Arthur tried to get up but began to fall sideways.

"Oh no you don't Arthur. You just got hit in the head, you have to sit down. I'll go get you your tea. Do you want one Merlin?"

"Um, yes please. Thanks." Morgana walked to the kitchen, leaving Arthur and Merlin alone.

"So… should I ask why you were not at the bar tonight?"

"No."

"Um… OK."

"No, look um…" Arthur rubbed his head.

"Its OK, just something came up here. My phone was in the car so I couldn't call."

"It's fine Arthur. If you don't want to tell me that's cool." Arthur looked at him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah of course. I am fine if it is none of my business. I can respect that." Arthur smiled.

"OK, here we go. Arthur, black with no sugar. Merlin black with four sugars."

"Four sugars? Why don't you just eat a donut?"

"Because my tongue does not have a tolerance for bitter things. God, one time, I tried a mocha with one sugar and my tongue almost fell off."

Arthur chuckled bringing his mug to his lips.

"And why is that?"

"I don't know. It's always been something. I have to eat milk chocolate, I can't drink coffee like when we were drinking coffee the other day, and I did not drink any or it."

"Why not?"

"I didn't want to seem rude."

"You just could have told me."

"I didn't want to be difficult."

"OK, we get it, your both considerate of each other's feelings how nice," Morgana cut in, receiving a glare from both men on the couch.

"Um…well, if I am no longer needed here, I will see you two tomorrow. Bye Merlin."

"Bye," Merlin said hearing the door slam a few seconds later.

* * *

The two men sat in silence for a while, sipping their teas quietly. Once the tea was gone, the awkwardness increased. It was Arthur who broke the silence.

"Did you see anyone at the bar?"

"Um… no. But I did pick out a few people we can talk to when we go there." Arthur nodded. Merlin bit his lip.

"Look Arthur, I didn't mean to freak you out you know, asking you to go to the bar…"

"Emrys…"

"And if that's the reason you didn't come I totally accept that…"

"Emrys…"

"But if you don't want to say anything that's OK, like I said. And wait… what was Morgana doing here?"

"She's an old friend."

"An old friend, or an old _friend_?"

"Just and old friend." Merlin nodded.

"We've known each other for years. We went to high school together."

"Oh cool."

"Yeah, not many things get past her when it comes to me." Merlin smiled.

"It's good to have someone like that around."

"Do you?"

"My sister Freya."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah, she works at the station with me. And Gwen as well. They have been with me through everything… I don't know where I would be now if it weren't for them." Arthur smiled to himself.

"That was a nice thing to say."

"Well I'm glad you approve." They chuckled slightly amongst themselves. Merlin turned to him.

"Seriously Arthur if I scared you I am so sorry…"

"EMRYS!"

Merlin jumped slightly, staring at Arthur, who was pretty fed up.

"For the last time, you did not."

"Are you lying to me? I mean…."

"No. Now why would I do that?"

"Because you never say what you are really thinking."

"Trust me, if you are doing something I do not like, I will tell you." Merlin smiled.

"OK whatever you say."

Arthur looked up at Merlin, faces only inches away from each other. Their eyes darting around, like in the room only hours before. Arthur hesitated before he spoke.

"I… don't have anything else to say."

Merlin bit his lip. He had absolutely no idea what was about to happen now. He didn't think that Arthur had a plan either. But they didn't really need one.

Merlin gasped slightly as Arthur moved forward and gently pressed their lips together.

Merlin didn't respond for a few seconds, he didn't want to scare Arthur away. He closed his eyes and gently began to kiss the other man back. Arthur traced Merlin's lips with his tongue, and as Merlin moaned, Arthur touched their tongues together. Merlin tilted his head to the side and ran his fingers through Arthur's hair, savouring every moment. He could feel Arthur's arm around his waste, his thumb making circular movements along his back.

It was almost like _he _was soothing _him_, not the other way around. Merlin had kissed guys before that was not a hidden fact but Arthur… Although this was probably the best kiss that Merlin had ever had, he thought that Arthur must be at least a bit afraid of what he was doing. Merlin kissed Arthur one more time before slowly breaking them apart.

Merlin met Arthur's eyes, which were still only inches from his own. Both men were breathing heavily, Merlin's hand still in Arthur's hair.

"Why did you do that?" Merlin asked softly.

"I…don't know," Arthur admitted, hoping he would not scare Merlin away.

"You didn't seem to like me before."

"Not everything is as it seems Merlin." Merlin gasped.

"You… you called me Merlin." Arthur smiled.

"I guess I did," he said. Merlin slowly ran his hand out of Arthur's hair and sat back.

"So um… what now?"

"Aren't you supposed to be the expert in this area?" Merlin chuckled. This was a side he had not seen before, Arthur crediting someone else's knowledge.

"Well, if it were up to me, I would ask you out, but I don't think that…"

"Sure."

"OK. Wait, _what_?"

"Sure, I'll go out with you." Merlin smiled.

"Great."

They sat there in silence for a while.

"Um… so I should probably go. It's late and…"

"Yeah um…"

Merlin stood near the door with Arthur.

"So I'll see you at work tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Arthur said.

Merlin smiled and Arthur opened to door.

"Wait. I am guessing you don't want anyone to know about this?" Arthur frowned.

"Not just yet, if that's OK." Merlin smiled walking to Arthur.

"You've had a tough time. I'll wait for as link as you need." Arthur smiled and Merlin kissed him lightly.

"Bye," Merlin said before walking out to his car smiling from ear to ear.

Arthur watched him walk to his car, before he sped off into the night.

Arthur closed the door and slid down the wall. He smiled to himself and whispered to no one,

"Thank you Morgana."

* * *

**WOOT!**

**I hope that everyone enjoyed that. :P**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

**And all unanswered questions that arose in this chapter will be explained, I promise.**

**Until next time**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey Guys! Sorry I haven't posted for a while and also for all the errors in the last chapter. God, I need to learn how to spell :P**

**Thanks for all the reviews last time, highly appreciated. This is like a little interlude chapter between two big events, but is still important. :D**

**Enjoy this chapter xox**

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**Chapter 8**

In a park at 12am, a man paced. He rubbed his forehead, thinking if he could have stopped it from happening. How he could have put off this hitch in his master plan. How he could have seen some sort of warning sign that it was all going to crumble right in front of him, everything he had worked for over the years. Every single step had to be planned and executed perfectly in order for it to work. And it was not like him to make mistakes. He crunched the box of empty matches in his hand from the job he had just completed, stopping himself from throwing it into the darkness. He would need to think of something fast - he needed to fix this…

Merlin, once again, woke up with butterflies. It was not because he was on a new case or that he had forgotten to do something the night before. It was because of _what _he had done the night before.

He and Arthur had kissed.

Not just kissed, actually made out, with tongue and everything. Merlin smiled and touched his lips, then quickly pulled them away. Oh God, I'm acting like some love sick girl.

With that he slowly came down from his high, wondering if Arthur was even going to acknowledge it even happened at work today.

It was Wednesday, which was the morning that Arthur had his weekly meetings with his father, so Merlin didn't have to be there until four. He shook his head; he didn't know how two men could talk all the time from nine till three just about work. He knew from experience that they didn't talk about much else.

He slowly got out of bed and went to wash his face. He felt really stupid, but he couldn't help staring at his lips. The place where Arthur's had been only hours before. He smiled to himself.

In the clubs and bars, all the boys liked it 'rough' and emotionless, but not Merlin. He liked passion and tenderness, someone who would not treat him like he was just another random shag on a Saturday night. Merlin was not like that, he sometimes thought that was why his past relationships hadn't lasted very long.

And he didn't know what this thing with Arthur was, or if it even was a thing. He still wanted to help Arthur, he knew that, and this happening just motivated him even more.

"Morning Merlin," Gwen said walking into the bathroom.

"Morning Gwen," Merlin replied. "How was your night?"

"Wonderful. After work Morgana picked me up and we went to a bar until about eleven. I got home at eleven thirty but you were already asleep. I didn't want to wake you."

"No that's fine," Merlin said. Gwen smiled turning on the shower.

"How was your night?"

"Yeah it was great um… fine. We didn't end up going to the bar like we planned so we just went back to Arthur's with Morgana."

"You went to Arthur's flat? What did it look like?"

Merlin opened his mouth but then closed it again. Come to think of it, he didn't really look around that much. Not after Arthur fell over unconscious.

"Just like a normal flat, is it supposed to look different?"

"Oh mother of a bitch, Merlin! To think that you are like a leading fireman with a sixth sense for detail and spotting the unusual and you don't even know anything about his flat." Merlin shrugged.

"I'm… sorry?" Gwen rolled her eyes.

"Were you… distracted?"

"No!"

"OK, I was just teasing." Merlin smiled weakly.

"Oh well it doesn't matter. I'm having a shower so please leave." Merlin raised his eyebrows and smirked.

"What's the matter Gwen, afraid I might perve on you?"

"Get out," Gwen said pushing Merlin towards the door, ignoring his muffled protests.

* * *

Morgana stood leaning on the door with her arms crossed, watching her best friend pace up and down his office.

"It's been driving me nuts Morgana," Arthur said.

"So you kissed him, what's the big deal?" Arthur sped up to her.

"Shhhh!" He hissed pulling Morgana in and closing the door.

"Arthur, what has gotten into you?"

"It's just… I don't want anyone to know yet."

"What, that you're gay?"

"I'm not Morgana," Arthur said sternly.

"OK yeah sure, and I wasn't born a woman, nor was I born yesterday. Why is this so hard for you to get your head around?"

Arthur sat down at his desk in deep thought for a few moments.

"I don't know how it happened."

"You don't need to know that," Morgana said. Arthur looked up at her.

"Arthur, it's not about knowing how things happen, it's about knowing how things feel. It's completely the opposite of work, it's spontaneous and unpredictable."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Arthur whispered.

"Oh so you think that all your relationships in life are going to have a plan?"

"Well… no but-"

"But what? You need to get out of this shit that everything in life has its own schedule because it does not."

"I learned that the hard way," Arthur said looking away. Morgana's face fell.

"Oh Arthur, I'm so sorry…"

"Forget it."

Morgana walked over and sat on Arthur's desk slightly.

"I need to end this," Arthur said after a while.

"What? Why?"

"Because being… its wrong in the eyes of… pretty much everyone."

"You mean to your father?" Morgana snapped back.

"I did not say that."

"Yeah, but you totally meant it."

"Morgana…"

"Who cares what Uther thinks? Do you like Merlin or not?"

Arthur smiled weakly and nodded. Morgana smiled.

"Then, I honestly don't see what is stopping you."

"I don't know what to do."

"When it comes to it, you will," Morgana said, "and I'll be there to help in case you seriously fuck up." Arthur smiled.

"I think I will definitely need you in that compartment." Morgana nodded in agreement and checked her watch.

"Oh, 3:30, you better eat that sandwich fast, and you _will _eat that sandwich Arthur. Lover boy is going to be here soon."

"I hate it when you call him that," Arthur groaned, eyeing the sandwich.

"You love it," Morgana said grinning evilly. Arthur looked up at her from his lunch.

"You seriously think I should do this?"

"Yes, for God's sake Arthur and it's not up to me. Just stop being a baby." She waved her arms randomly in the air and walked out of the office.

* * *

Arthur looked down at the sandwich. He picked it up and took a small bite. _Chicken, _he liked chicken. Oh, how ironic.

"Knock, knock," he heard Merlin say as he peaked in through the open door. Arthur looked at him and then back at his sandwich. How long had he been staring at it for?

"I hope I'm not intruding because I'm ten minutes early."

"No… not at all, come in." Arthur got up from his chair as Merlin shut the door and walked into the office.

The two of them stood in silence for a while, looking around touching small things as they paced around the room, making small noises whenever they deemed it appropriate. Merlin was fine with waiting, but Arthur found it infuriating. Why wasn't he speaking? Was he just here to make an ass of him? And what possessed him to quote Shakespeare?

Oh God, he needed to strike up a conversation.

"Merlin…"

"Yes," Merlin said turning around almost immediately, smiling widely.

"Why are you smiling so… big?" He saw the other man actually blush.

"Um… I like it when you call me by my name," he said.

"Oh."

Arthur pulled two chairs up. Merlin walked over.

"I think we have some things we need to talk about Arthur."

"Yes we do and…"

"Let me finish Arthur," Merlin said. Arthur snapped his mouth shut. He was not used to being told what to do with matters outside of work. Merlin took a deep breath.

"Firstly, I just want to let you know that… I like you. You get on my nerves with your pratish, bossy, arrogant ways. You never value anyone else's opinion and you always underestimate me. I don't know whether that is an old habit, or… how you show affection or whatever. But the thing is… those are the things that make you, you. And I'm fine with that. Yesterday, I saw a whole different side of you, one that I really liked. And, if you would let me, and it doesn't have to be any time soon, I would like to get to know that other person too. I know that sounds really cheesy and stupid, but I've never felt this way about anyone before. I… I don't know what it is. I hated you Arthur. God, I hated you so much. I mean… look at what you've reduced me to, babbling on like a little girl. I know you said that you didn't want to tell anyone and I'm cool with that too, because your special and-"

Merlin closed his eyes as Arthur boldly covered his lips with his own. Merlin grasped Arthur's face and deepened the kiss, a sense of passion overwhelming his entire body. He hadn't of though of that speech as utterly romantic, nor even making sense, no matter how many times he had rehearsed it in the car. Merlin heard Arthur groan as Merlin licked along his bottom lip. He wondered whether Arthur would say something after this, or whether this was his answer. Merlin smiled slightly as one of Arthur's hands made its way to his chest, slowly moving downward. He was a very difficult person to read, and his actions were always so… static, like he didn't know what he was doing. Arthur suddenly pulled away and Merlin opened his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Arthur said, "I don't really know what I'm doing and I couldn't think of anything to say."

"No… that's fine," Merlin said fixing himself. Arthur smiled. Merlin looked at him seriously.

"So, you really want to do this?" Arthur continued to smile.

"And I won't get arrested, or fined for a conflict of interest by the government or something?"

"What the government doesn't know won't hurt them," Arthur said simply.

"Wow, I never thought I would have heard that come out of a federal agent's mouth."

Arthur face fell.

"That was a pretty bad thing to say, wasn't it?" Merlin smiled widely.

"It was cute," Merlin said quickly before closing his mouth. God, did I just call him cute.

"You think I'm cute do you Merlin?" Arthur said with a smirk and Merlin let out his breath. Merlin got up from his chair and strode around to the back of Arthur's desk.

"Maybe a little… don't flatter yourself." Arthur smiled and walked over and sat in his chair.

"Were you eating a sandwich?"

"Oh yeah, Morgana got it for me."

"Well, you shouldn't stop because I'm here, keep eating."

"I'm not hungry."

"C'mon Arthur you have to eat. What if I eat a bit as well?"

"Fine," Arthur surrendered handing him half. He started to type into his computer.

"I love chicken," Merlin said with a smiled.

"Yeah me too."

"Especially with…"

"Butter yeah, but everybody thinks it tastes better with…"

"Mayonnaise I know!"

Arthur stopped eating and turned to Merlin and started giggling. Merlin started too and soon they were laughing. It was… nice, to finally laugh, and really laugh. He felt like he hadn't for the longest time. And about a sandwich.

"Oh and you are not skipping out on the bar tonight," Merlin said. Arthur nodded taking another bite out of his sandwich.

"Absolutely, we need to get a move on. Father is getting impatient with us."

"I was hoping for something along the lines of 'I know, you don't deserve to be stood up again'."

"Right, sorry." Merlin smiled.

"It's fine Arthur. I'm not upset about it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, we'll just go tonight, OK?"

"OK." He turned back to his computer.

"If your busy with computer stuff I can come back later."

"You don't have to…"

"No its fine. I'll see you at the bar at six this time OK?"

Arthur nodded and Merlin got up and left.

"I have to ask one more thing," Merlin said turning back.

"What is it this time, Mr Emrys?"

"The meetings with your father, what do you talk about? It's been bugging me all day."

"We basically just talk about the situation in all of our cases, the press, any evidence or leads and sometimes about the staff."

"So… do you talk about me?"

"No."

Merlin nodded, looking down.

"Oh, but my father wants his shirt back. He says that if he doesn't get it back soon, he will have to rob your house."

"You bastard," Merlin said closing the door to Arthur's muffled laughter.

"See you tonight Merlin!" Arthur called. He waited.

"Yeah whatever."

* * *

**WOOT! There you go.**

**Next chapter will be the bar scene. I'm excited.**

**REVIEW please!**

**Until next time**

**xox**

**emiliexox**


	9. Chapter 9

**HELLO!**

**Sorry, I should have posted this a while ago, but I had writer's block. Oh well. But I'm actually quite happy with how it turned out in the end. And I know this has taken forever, you can hurt me if you want just… not too bad OK?**

**Here it is!**

**And thanks again for all the reviews on the last chapter. I know many of you were in anticipation for this chapter to be posted. I really hope I don't disappoint you guys.**

**Enjoy! xox**

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**Chapter 9**

Sometimes, life becomes the biggest bitch you have to encounter. And sometimes, you just had to tell that bitch to fuck off and go away so you can get on with what you need to do.

Arthur wondered if life was ever on his side. Actually, he wondered that very often. He was grateful for the things that he had: a good job, a good home, stable income, a fast metabolism. But it was strange how none of those things had made him happy. Until now.

He had met Merlin through his job, they had kissed in his home, his stable income made it easy for him to do things for himself and Merlin, and he is stunningly good looking. Well… the last one was a bit of an exaggeration. Arthur did not really know how to approach this new relationship he was in. Sure he had been in other relationships before and he had done what he was supposed to do:

1. Smile at the girl and make her blush

2. Buy her nice gifts and

3. Give her the biggest orgasm of her life, before both of them having enough and ending it one way or another.

But what about another man? One that was different to anyone he had ever met? One that he actually liked and was not picked out by his father? Well, there were a few things that could stay the same: he could make Merlin smile, and buy him things and, well... the other one can wait.

God, Arthur did not know why he had fallen so hard for this guy. He didn't know what it was about him. Arthur did not even think he was the slightest bit into guys before this particular one had shown up in his life. Arthur took a breath and split his eyebrows from each other, which were aching since he had been in deep thought. Merlin had left only twenty minutes ago and Arthur was already a nervous wreck.

"Knock, knock," Lance said before striding into the room.

"Ah, Lance, what are you still doing here?"

"It's Wednesday, I don't finish until six, which is in about half an hour."

"Half an hour?" Arthur yelled.

"Yeah and hang on, aren't you supposed to go to the…"

"Yes, yes now get out of my way Lance." Lance moved to the side as Arthur grabbed his coat and ran out the door.

"Go get 'em boss!" Lance called from behind him.

* * *

Merlin sat at the bar at five to six. He didn't want to get anything to drink just yet because he wanted to be fully in control for when Arthur got here. They were supposed to be working and this was not a social get together. Merlin would need to be sober in order to remind himself of that. He really wanted both his professional life with Arthur and his social life with Arthur to run as smoothly as possible. He had already copped enough shit in his life.

"Hey Merlin," Arthur said taking the stool next to Merlin.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up again," he replied.

"I am a man of my word Merlin and this get together is strictly professional. OK, there's the line and I have drawn it." Arthur drew an imaginary line between himself and Merlin. Merlin smiled.

"Good, I'm happy that you said that. Arthur, calm down." Arthur slouched slightly.

"I know, I'm sorry."

"There's no need to apologise. So what exactly are we doing again?"

"God Merlin, we have only been over this plan like… a thousand times. Does anything in your head stay there for more that a mere matter of minutes?"

Merlin smiled wickedly causing Arthur to shift in his seat, blushing slightly.

"That's… that's not what I meant!"

"Sure it wasn't," Merlin said, "And FYI, I know what we are doing here, and I already have a list of people lined up that we can talk to."

"Good, who are they?"

"You see that lady over there?" Merlin motioned behind him.

Arthur looked past Merlin and saw a smallish woman sitting at the end of the bar. She was probably mid twenties, light brown hair, blue eyes, and quite a sight for the male observer.

"How do you know?"

"Watch," Merlin said simply.

Arthur turned his attention back to the woman who was now striking up a conversation with the bartender.

"Back again Miss," said the bartender with a smile.

"Yeah, hey Leon," the woman said.

"What'll it be Sophia?"

"Just a beer thanks, I'm not planning on getting drunk out of my wits tonight."

"Oh, meeting someone special?"

"That's none you your business mister." The bartender smiled and handed her the beer. She reached for her wallet.

"Don't worry about it darl, it's on the house."

"Thanks Leon, you're a good man."

"So people tell me," he replied and then went back to his work.

Arthur turned back to Merlin.

"We can't talk to her, she's meeting someone here."

"Well, why can't you just talk to her now?"

"What if her date thinks I'm whisking her away?" Merlin laughed.

"Trust me, they won't."

Arthur knew there was some other meaning to what Merlin said, but he didn't have time to ask.

"OK, stay here."

Arthur got up and walked casually over to Sophia.

"Hi," he greeted cheerfully. He had done this many times before. This he was used to.

"Oh hello," Sophia replied taking a sip of her beer.

"Um, I don't mean to come over here unannounced, but I was wondering if you have see of heard of anything that seemed suspicious or out of place?"

"What are you, some kind of cop?" Sophia said.

"Actually I'm an arson detective," Arthur replied.

"Oh right. Well I haven't, I'm sorry I couldn't have been of more help."

"No that's fine, thank you very much," Arthur said politely.

"No problem. Oh hey Viv, over here!"

Arthur turned around to see a blonde woman about the same age as Sophia walking towards them.

"Hey Soph, how are you?"

"I'm very good. You?"

"Not too bad. Hey Lee!"

The bartender turned around, "Hey Vivian!" Vivian smiled and turned towards Arthur.

"Not ditching me for some bloke are we Soph?"

"No um, this man is an arson detective and just wanted to know if I had seen anything out of place."

"Oh really? Well you should ask Lee, he's here all the time, serves different people, watches different people. He would have the inside scoop if you ask me."

"Thank you, but, as you might know, my partner and I don't want this getting around. It's kind of like an undercover investigation."

"Your partner the skinny dark haired kid talking to Leon right now?" Arthur turned around to see Merlin and Leon in deep conversation.

"Uh, yeah that's him."

"He's cute," Sophia said, "you two would make a nice couple."

"Oh we are… not really together."

"Shame," was all she replied.

"Well, thank you both for your time and enjoy your evening."

"You too…"

"Arthur."

"OK, you too Arthur," said Sophia.

"See ya," added Vivian. And the two women engaged themselves in deep conversation as Arthur walked over to Merlin.

"…cool, thanks heaps Leon."

"No problem Merlin, see ya round," Leon replied. Merlin smiled as he walked over to another customer.

"So… what did he say?"

"He said that there hadn't been much the last couple of days, but last Sunday I think he said it was, there was a guy sitting suspiciously in the corner over there. He said he had seen him once or twice before and has only spoken to a couple of people. He always remembered him because he never ordered anything when he came in here. And he had gloves on the whole time, and never took them off."

"OK, so we have mysterious guy who wears gloves. Did he see his face?"

"No, he said he always wore sunglasses or a hat of some kind. Sometimes a big coat. But he looked to be late twenties with dark hair."

"That does not give us much to go on Merlin," Arthur said.

"I know, but Leon is here every day, and that's all he's seen."

Arthur nodded, knowing that they were not going to get anywhere further than this. At least they knew know that their guy was male, mid to late twenties, dark hair and definitely knew a thing or two about keeping their identity a secret.

"So… what now?" Merlin said.

"Now nothing," Arthur said, "We came here to do something and we did it. We can leave now."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay and, you know… grab a drink?"

Arthur raised his eyebrows.

"Are you asking me out again Merlin?" Merlin smiled.

"I might be." Arthur stiffened slightly.

"But, don't you think the people will become… uncomfortable if they saw us drinking here together." Merlin looked at him confused.

"Why would they do that?"

"Because…we are… you know, both men." Merlin looked at him confused for a couple of seconds before his eyes went wide as if something clicked in his head and he began to laugh, very hard, having to steady himself by grabbing onto the bar.

"Merlin, what is so funny?"

"Shit Arthur, do you even know where we are?"

"Um, all I did was follow you in."

"Well look around, you prat."

Arthur scowled at him, but did has he said. There were a lot more people here, Arthur realised, than when they had arrived. Many men sitting with men and women sitting with women. And… Oh my fucking God…

Arthur shot his head past Merlin and looked over to the two women he had spoken to earlier, confidently making out.

"Merlin! You didn't tell me this was a fucking gay bar!"

"I though you knew."

"How would I have known?" Arthur hissed at him. Merlin smiled and continued to giggle behind his hand.

"Oh Arthur, you are too funny."

"Shut up Merlin before I do it for you."

"I can't believe you didn't figure it out. And here I was thinking you were the observant type."

"I was too busy thinking about the task at hand and not about… um, other things."

Merlin cocked his head to one side.

"Like what Arthur? Being in a bar with me?"

"No," Arthur snapped, a small blush escaping to his cheeks.

"Getting me piss drunk and taking me home..."

"Merlin-"

"... to the bedroom and performing unspeakable acts to me…"

"_Mer_lin..."

"Waking up the next morning not remembering a thing that happened…"

"Merlin!" Merlin looked up at Arthur who was now looking serious.

"What?"

"Nine o'clock."

Merlin turned his head slightly in the direction of the entrance to see the man that he had just been told about walk into the bar. He was tall; about six foot one and was wearing sunglasses and a beanie. He walked over to the corner, as expected and sat there, eyeing the people in the room.

"I don't recognise him," Merlin said.

Arthur nodded and shifted closer to him.

"We need to get out of here," he whispered.

"Why?"

"If he is the arsonist, he probably knows who we are, or at least who I am. This would look really suss." Merlin nodded.

"We can't get out of here now, not without him noticing."

"Yeah I figured that already, so what do we do?"

Merlin looked around trying to find an alternate escape route, keeping the mysterious man in view. Then his eyes met with Leon's.

"I have an idea."

…

Leon didn't know why he agreed to do this, but Merlin was a good man, and always nice to him, plus the huge amount of cash that blond guy pulled out of this pocket basically made his choice for him. He walked over to the table where the stranger sat.

"Hi, would you like anything to drink?"

The man shook his head.

"Naw, shame, you're always here and yet you don't order. Are you a little bit shy?"

"No, I just don't want anything." His voice was soft and slightly husky.

"Are you homeless? Oh gosh I am so sorry." He leaned over the table and looked at the man. He was almost on top of him.

"Well, you know the men around here, as long as you don't tell them, I'm sure they won't mind."

"That's not it," the man said simply sitting back slightly.

"Oh its not?" Leon said, "Oh well, maybe your just an anti-social ass who doesn't give a damn about anybody else but themselves because I think that is very rude. If you are not going to order anything then at least talk to someone. There are plenty of single men around here. If you're not, then I suggest you leave."

"I'm... fine." Leon's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh, I get it you're confused." He patted the man's face and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"We'll all be here when you come out of the closet my friend. Have a nice evening." And he walked back to the bar feeling quite pleased with himself. The stranger composed himself and cursed when he noticed the bar where the two men were sitting was empty.

* * *

"Leon did a great job," Merlin said as he and Arthur walked into his apartment.

"Yeah, I still think that my money may have boosted his confidence a little." Merlin laughed.

"Trust me; Leon doesn't need a confidence boost."

"You sound like you know him," Arthur said looking around Merlin's apartment.

"I have for a while. But nothing personal or anything. Friend of a friend."

"I see. So where's your roommate?"

"Gwen? On Wednesdays she usually works late, till about nine which is… one and half hours from now."

"Really?" Arthur said licking his lips. Merlin smiled and walked over towards him.

"I wonder what we are going to do to occupy our time until then..."

"Let me give you an idea." And Arthur leaned over and kissed Merlin.

Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur's neck pulling him further into the kiss. Arthur had got his confidence up, Merlin found out, when Arthur put his arms around Merlin's waist, one going under his shirt, caressing his back muscles. Merlin groaned, allowing Arthur's tongue entrance into his mouth.

Merlin almost screamed as he was picked up off the floor by Arthur and thrown down onto the couch. Merlin looked at Arthur breathlessly as he came down on top of him, kissing his lips, and then moving to his neck. Merlin was having a little trouble keeping control of himself, the things that Arthur could do with his mouth were driving him crazy and sending shots of pleasure straight to his groin. Merlin pulled Arthur back up and they began to kiss fiercely, Merlin locking his fingers in Arthur's hair.

They were disturbed by Arthur phone going off in his pocket.

"Arthur..." Merlin said between kisses, "please… ignore it…"

"I… can't… it's… oh… my work phone…I have to… take it…" Arthur pulled back from Merlin who was looking incredibly flushed with his dark hair sticking up in all directions. God, he looked… incredibly sexy. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sat back.

"Pendragon… Yes… We'll be right there." Arthur hung up.

"Who was that?" Merlin asked sitting up.

"Lance," Arthur replied turning to Merlin and putting his phone in his pocket,

"There's been another fire."

* * *

**Well there you go, another chapter down.**

**I really hope it was worth the long wait. I'm really sorry once again. Mysterious man… :D**

**Please Review. I love reading them :P**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	10. Chapter 10

**HEY GUYS! Here is the next chapter. I know I'm taking a while with my updating but I have a lot of things on with school and stuff. Year 12, you know. God, kill me now :P**

**This has a nice little bit at the end that I don't think many of you will see coming so I hope you enjoy that.**

**Thanks xox**

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**Chapter 10**

Merlin was not one to curse the world of getting in the way of his life. He had always been one of those 'go with the flow' kind of guys and if he didn't like something, he would either endure it, or get the hell out of there. Not dwell on it for eternity. He and Arthur had actually made progress tonight and it made him want to tell his sister or brag about it to Gwen. But he knew that he couldn't.

He looked over at Arthur who was staring blankly at the road, one hand on the wheel, the other holding his phone in case of another call. Arthur sensed Merlin's eyes on him and quickly looked over and smiled. Merlin smiled back looking away also and the comfortable silence between them continued.

"Where are we going?" Merlin asked.

"Downtown, there's a museum near Avalon Park."

"The one that was just bought by the…"

"Government, yes it was," Arthur said.

"Looks like our guy has a thing for government buildings," Merlin said.

"Yeah," Arthur said weakly creasing his eyebrows in thought, "And I can't put my finger on why."

* * *

Arthur could already smell the faint smell of smoke as he turned the corner heading towards Avalon Park. The road was blocked off in one lane on both sides leaving a lot of people being stuck in traffic all night. Arthur huffed in frustration and opened his window and held up his badge to the traffic controller. He received a nod, and the barricade was removed allowing access to the area around the museum.

Arthur and Merlin got out of the car and were met by Lance and Valiant.

"Hey Lance," Arthur said, "And man standing next to Lance."

"His name is Valiant," Merlin said, "and hello to you too Val."

"Thanks captain," Valiant said smiling, "I just wish we weren't meeting in such a situation."

"Valiant, wasn't that weirdo Edward's nickname Sir Valiant?"

"Oh yeah," Merlin said and Valiant raised an eyebrow, "funny story, I'll tell you later dude."

"I look forward to it. And why would anyone want my pathetic name as a nickname. God, I still hate my mother everyday of my life."

"Why?" Lance said, "It's not that bad, and it's certainly not as bad as Lancelot."

Arthur snorted.

"You're full name is _Lancelot_?" Merlin choked.

"Unfortunately. Now shut up, we have some shit to sort through."

"Yeah some burnt shit, and judging by the smell, it looks like some bad shit to me captain." Merlin smiled and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"As much as that _shit _analogy actually made sense, I would like to go to the _shit _if you don't mind. That's what I'm paid jack_ shit_ for."

"Sure shit- I mean um… Arthur, sure Arthur."

Arthur glared as he strode past Valiant with Lance, leaving the other two men to giggle together alone.

"How long ago did you get here?" Merlin asked.

"Bout forty five. Security guard made the call. Said he smelt smoke coming from the east side of the museum, went over saw the place in smoke and got out of there."

"Did they catch anything on the cameras?"

"Nothing captain, whoever did this came prepared. But we did find a kerosene can just like at the last scene."

"Then we can't be too careful. Get some of the boys to search the park as well."

"On it captain."

Merlin nodded and walked over to the burnt building.

The security guard's story held up, seeing that most of the west side of the building was in tact, just some ash on the sides and a collapsed ceiling. The east side was completely destroyed.

"Merlin," he heard Arthur hiss, "The Prime Minister is here, and he wants to talk to you."

"Me? Why?"

"I don't really know and I don't have time to explain. Now you listen to me, if you value your life you will go and talk to him right now." Merlin lifted his eyebrows.

"My father is coming go." Merlin sped off towards the PM.

The Prime Minister was a pretty old man, late sixties, grey hair, and one eye a little bigger than the other. Merlin had always been told he was a pretty nice guy, greeting everyone with a grandfatherly nature and always smiling. Merlin decided to put on his best smiled as he extended his hand.

"Mr Prime Minister," Merlin said.

"Please my young friend. For all the hard work you are putting in for me you can as least call me Gaius."

"OK Gaius. I'm Merlin," Merlin said releasing his hand from the PM's.

"So, what's going on here Merlin?"

"Well, my colleagues have informed me of the situation and as Mr Pendragon and I suspected, it seems that our arsonist has a thing for buildings that belong to the government."

"Can you be sure of this?" Gaius asked.

"The pattern is there sir; we can most definitely be suspicious. The connection is there and we do not have the motive of the arsonist. From what we know the security guard made the call. He is being questioned and the evidence is being collected."

"Is there anything else we can do?"

"To be certain I have organised the park and the surrounding area to be checked sir."

"That's a good lad. I have to get back to the office. Tell Mr Pendragon and Pendragon Senior that I give them my best regards."

"All the best be with your wife as well sir," Merlin said.

"Thank you Merlin, and good luck." Gaius nodded politely towards Merlin, before getting into his car and leaving the scene.

* * *

Merlin walked past the crime tape and into the building meeting Arthur who was bending down over a bit of something.

"The Prime Minister sends you his best regards."

"His best regards?" Arthur said standing up. Merlin looked at him confused.

"What?"

"We are working our arses off and all he sends is his best regards?"

"Um… sorry?" Arthur smiled.

"It doesn't matter, we need to find something. I have a feeling there is something we are missing and its right in front of us."

"Captain," Valiant said striding into the room with a clear plastic bag.

"Boys were looking through the park and found this." He handed it to Merlin.

"A scrunched up packet of matches," Merlin said.

"So? That could be anybody's. Anyone can go in that park Merlin," Arthur said.

"I know, but it's the only thing we have so far."

Arthur nodded and Lance walked in.

"Found anything boss?"

"Yeah Merlin's team found a packet of matches in the park."

"Anyone can go into that park."

"Yeah we know." Lance nodded.

"I'll put that in forensics boss." Arthur handed him the bag.

"I think we should get out of here. It's getting really late, almost eleven," Valiant said.

"Why is that past your bedtime?" Arthur said mockingly.

"You wish shit, GOD… why do I keep doing that?" Merlin smiled, Arthur looked highly offended.

"C'mon Merlin, we're leaving," he said simply striding out of the room. Merlin followed and turned to Valiant.

"It's your fault if shit goes down between him and me after this."

"You know me Merlin; if shit hits the fan, get a tent… then give me a call."

"You wish," Merlin said. Valiant simply winked at him and he walked over to Arthur who was getting in his car.

"That Valiant kid needs to learn to watch his mouth," Arthur sneered.

"Why? Too much competition for you Arthur?"

"No, just tell him to keep his mouth shut."

"You're cute when you're angry."

Arthur turned to him.

"You're different, don't push it." Merlin smiled and they drove off out of that crazy scene.

* * *

"So Arthur, I trust everything is going to schedule with the current case," Uther said taking a bite out of his pizza.

"Yes father, everything is well."

This was so awkward. He had been quite surprised when his father had invited him to dinner the next evening. And even insisted they ordered pizza… his father never eats pizza. After sending Merlin home the night before, he really hoped that they would get to spend the time after work the next day together. But Morgana had delivered a late message to him just as they were leaving and here he was. Arthur put down his pizza.

"Look father, I know you didn't bring me here to have a chat and eat pizza. Just tell me what you want."

Uther looked surprised for a moment before lowering his pizza in defeat.

"You are right, that was not the reason."

"Then what was?" Uther looked seriously at his son.

"Morgana told me what's been happened… and on Wednesday."

Arthur turned away from his father. Damn Morgana, he can never god damn trust her with anything! What a bitch.

"Father I…"

"And I want you to understand, that I think that it was good for you to finally open up to somebody. Try and get your life back on track."

"My life is on track father."

"Yes I know. I was just worried about you Arthur. Ever since that day Arthur…"

"Please… don't make this any harder. I just want to forget."

"I don't think you should. You need to let it rest and move on. Never forget."

Arthur nodded and stared at the ground…

"_Mum, no please Mum!"_

"_Arthur listen to me," Ygraine said weakly._

"_I just want you to know, that I will always love you, no matter who you become and no matter what you choose. You are the most important thing in my life and I'm happy that… I…" Arthur sobbed_

"_Mum, shhhh, its OK, I'm going to get you out of here." Arthur looked around for an exit, but all he could see was smoke._

"_There's an exit over to the left. The ceiling fell in, so both of us won't make it through." Arthur cried into his mother's shoulder._

"_I don't want to leave you," Arthur said._

"_I love you Arthur, and your father, always remember that."_

_Arthur looked up towards the exit, then back down at his mother. He jumped when he heard a loud crack coming from the ceiling._

"_Go Arthur," Ygraine whispered. Arthur didn't move. The cracking became louder._

"_Go!"_

_Arthur sped of towards the exit, running through just as…_

"Arthur…"

Arthur looked up to see his father come over from his side of the table to sit beside him, looking at him with concern.

"I'm fine, sorry."

Uther didn't looked convinced, but settled for a nod anyway.

"So, how's Merlin doing?"

"Merlin? Oh well, he's um… doing fine dad he's doing well."

"You guys have gotten pretty close. I can sense an almost… friendship developing."

Arthur let out a snort.

"I don't think a friendship is blossoming between the two of us father. Far from it actually."

"Arthur you don't have to lie to me." Arthur looked up at his father.

"I know I'm an old man and I know I have certain values on things, but Lord Arthur, just because I can be forceful doesn't mean you can't come and talk to me about what you are feeling."

Arthur was confused.

"I know I have strict ideals about what it means to be a man, and I shouldn't have forced it on you. I didn't know you were cracking under the pressure. I'm not as observant as I used to be when it comes to you."

"I don't understand…"

"Arthur, Morgana told me, its fine."

"Told you about what?"

"About you and Merlin." Arthur opened his mouth but then closed it again.

"Oh."

Uther nodded.

"Yeah oh."

Arthur bit his lip.

"Look…I didn't… I didn't want you to find out this way. God, I didn't even want you to find out at all. I was, I am… so scared dad. I've never done this before, not seriously. And its not like, I had anyone to turn to or talk to. I… panicked. And Morgana showed up at my flat on Wednesday and she was really good to me. So I just thought she could help me, so I told her the next day."

"Son, why didn't you come to me?"

"I didn't know what to think at the time. It's only been going on for… not even a week."

"Arthur I accept the justification of your actions, I'm just disappointed, in myself more than anything that you couldn't come and talk to me. And just so you know, this does not in anyway change the way that I look at you, or feel about you."

"Thank you," Arthur said, "and I'm sorry."

"You are not to blame."

"Thank you father," Arthur said breathing out heavily, "It really means a lot to me."

"You deserve to be happy with whomever you choose after everything you have been through my son," Uther said. Arthur smiled.

"Is it serious with Merlin?"

Arthur bit his lip.

"It's confusing. He's… a riddle. One minute, I think I have him all worked out, and the next minute I get surprised again. It's like there is always something that I don't know about him."

"That will always come in time," Uther said.

"Yeah I know. He's witty as well. I never liked people telling me what to do or where to go. He finds my behaviour fascinating rather than weird. He's just… different to anyone I've know before."

Uther smiled.

"Sounds like a keeper then."

"Dad!"

"Alright. Now," Uther said pulling the pizza box towards them, "Let's finish this pizza."

Arthur smiled. Uther mumbled something and Arthur looked at him.

"I said, Morgana said that it's good that you are finally letting yourself live."

"What is she a psychologist?"

"I thought she was your secretary," Uther said grinning.

"Yeah well maybe if she started acting like one, the world would be a much simpler place."

"Yeah but a lot shittier." Arthur rolled his eyes, taking a bite out of his pizza.

"True that."

* * *

**Well there you go!**

**I think a lot of us judged Uther a bit too harshly. I think he was just trying to do what he thought was right.**

**And the match box, anyone remember…?**

**Next chapter should be up as soon as I can get it up.**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	11. Chapter 11

**HELLO! I am sooooo sorry for not updating. I've had exam after exam after assessment and I was just dying. I'm no finished yet, but instead of studying I thought I might take a break and write this. Once again I am so sorry and I give you permission to hurt me just… not the face OK?**

**I know many of you were happy with Uther last chapter and for now, he is going to stay that way. He is not the focus of this story. And I know most of you are dying to know about Arthur's mother, don't worry, more will be revealed in due course.**

**So enough from me, ENJOY!**

**Xox**

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**Chapter 11**

Arthur smiled widely that day as he walked into work and he knew exactly why as he walked past his father's office. Last night had been one of the most wonderful times he had spent with his father since his mother passed. They had stayed up late, talking about life, about Arthur's endeavours, his relationship with Merlin as well as Uther's attempts to conquer his own grief. Arthur had never known how much his father had been hurting and last night had put it all into perspective.

The reason that Uther had been so rough and angry with him was because he had never got over his own grief. He saw his wife in Arthur everyday, so his temper was very thin. When Arthur cried, he saw his wife crying. That was why he was so hung up on Arthur manning up. He thought that it would stop him from seeing her. Uther even apologised for the incident in the office where Merlin walked in, and Arthur had accepted it. He was not proud of what he did that day, but Arthur refrained from telling him the bit about the blood.

But now it was over. They were both falling apart on their own, and now they can try to heal together.

"Morning Morgana," Arthur said casually striding into the corridor hoping to get past her and into his office.

"Not so fast mister," Morgana said a donut in hand, "I believe we have some things to discuss." Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Such as?"

"Such as… what happened last night between you and Uther."

"I don't believe that is any of your business." Morgana gaped.

"But Arthur…"

"Nope, that was purely father-son time, not father-son-secretary time."

"He has a point Morgana," Uther said walking in, "Whatever happened late night is man on man talk. Sorry." Morgana rolled her eyes smiling as Uther continued to walk past snatching the donut out of her hand.

"Hey! I paid for that!"

"And I pay you," was the reply and suddenly Morgana was alone in the corridor smiling to herself. It's been a while since Uther snatched a donut out of her hand.

* * *

Arthur quickly shut his door behind him, leaning back against it with his eyes closed. Damn, that would have been awkward.

"Bad morning?" Arthur swore and jumped at the sound of Merlin's voice.

"God, you nearly scared me half to death." Merlin chuckled.

"Well at least it wasn't all the way to death." Arthur smirked and walked closer to him.

"Yeah," he said bringing his face closer to the other man's, "I think that was a good thing."

They lips met lightly. Arthur closed his eyes and wrapped one arm gently around Merlins waist, moaning slightly as a hand came up to caress his cheek. But they were in Arthur's office and needed to stop before they were interrupted.

"Good morning Merlin," Arthur said with a smile.

"Good morning to you too."

Arthur walked over to his desk and sat down.

"So, what we know so far is…"

"Nothing, until we get the forensics back from the matches."

"And how long do you think that will take?" Merlin asked.

"Not too long at all," Valiant said striding into the office.

"Val, what are you doing here? Where's Lance?"

"It's his day off," Arthur said, "He gets about five a month."

"Damn, that's sad. Lancelot's going to miss out on all the fun," Val said, "And Merlin, why don't I get five days a month off?"

"Because you don't work on weekends," Merlin said with a smile.

"I do if you call me," Val said.

"Yeah and then I give you the Monday off, if you recall." Arthur snorted.

"And anyway why are you here?" Valiant straightened up.

"There's been a bit of a… technicality with the evidence."

"Meaning…" Merlin said.

"That they never showed up."

Arthur stood up.

"What do you mean they-never-showed-up?" He boomed.

"Freya said she got a call from the labs today. Apparently when all the evidence came up there was evidence all labelled A to E, but there was no D. They started to get iffy so they looked around. The guy who labelled the match box clearly remembers putting it inside the box of evidence. But when it was opened in the lab, there was nothing."

Arthur growled.

"Arthur calm down," Merlin said.

"No Merlin, I will not calm down. How can a piece of evidence just go missing? There were about fifty people at that crime scene."

"Meaning there was more distractions and it would have been less likely to see if someone snatched it."

"Or misplaced it," Merlin said.

"Merlin, it was obviously stolen."

"Yeah I know. But who would have been there to steal it?"

Arthur rubbed his forehead.

"Who took it to forensics?"

"Lance did," Merlin said.

"And did they get there?"

"Yeah, I was speaking to Freya and she said she saw a dark haired guy giving something in a plastic bag to the forensic team."

"Freya was there?" Merlin asked.

"Yeah, came with the fire department, oh, and told me to say hi when I saw you which I obviously forget to do so… hi." Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Thanks Val."

"Can you please focus here?" Arthur said.

"Sorry. So we know that the evidence was in the van." Merlin nodded and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"This means that someone must have intercepted it before it got to forensics."

"Or at forensics," Merlin said.

"Right," Arthur walked around to the front of his desk, "MORGANA!"

A few seconds later Morgana came running into the office with a notepad. Merlin smiled, she probably knew that tone better than anyone.

"Yes Arthur?"

"I need a list of all the people that were present at the museum fire, sorted by department. I also need specifically the forensic team and anyone who was working with them or had access to the evidence that was given to them from that crime scene. And I need it ASAP, it's of crucial importance."

"I'll be right on it," Morgana said clicking her pen shut and running back out the door. Uther passed as she ran out and walked into the office.

"What's going on?"

"The match box is missing."

"What?"

"It never showed up to forensics," Val said.

"I'm sorry who are you?"

"Val, I'm from Merlin's station."

"Ah, pleasure. Uther."

"I know who you are sir," Val said with a smile.

"You were there at the time?" Val nodded.

"And he just relayed everything he knows to me father, and Morgana's already on everything I need right now."

"Good job. I think I should phone the Prime Minister. He might want to hear about this; removing evidence from a crime scene is a very serious matter indeed."

"You're not going to get the police involved?" Merlin asked.

"No. The damage was done in our investigation. I don't want stupid morons who think they know what they are doing walking around here; questioning everyone and talking as if they own the place."

"Here Here," Arthur said. Uther clapped his hands.

"Let's go, we need to sort this out."

* * *

"Arthur its fine; everything is going to be OK."

Arthur's hands tightened around the mug he was holding.

"I don't think so Merlin." Merlin sighed and sat next to Arthur on his couch. Merlin let the sweet hot liquid roll down his throat, washing away all the stress of the day. And indeed it had been stressful. Its like everyone's mouths were on fire and the only way that it stopped is if they talked more. Arthur's office was visited by so many people Merlin had never seen before, either to talk to Arthur or give him something. Morgana was the person Merlin felt sorry for the most. She was worked off her feet and in the end; Merlin had offered her a lift home instead of her catching the bus. After that, he had called Arthur and told him to come to his apartment.

When Arthur had got there, he looked like he was going to either pop a blood vessel or completely pass out from the amount of stress he was under. Merlin had settled him down and got him a mug of hot coffee which he had barely had any of today.

"I'm sorry Merlin," Arthur said softly.

"For what?"

"For all the mess today."

"Arthur you have nothing to be sorry for, and if you did, I would be the last person you should be apologising to. You have done nothing to me. You did your job and I helped you the best way I could. You are doing the best you can."

"If I was, we would have found out who did this by now." Merlin smiled slightly.

"You're too hard on yourself you know." Arthur chuckled to himself.

"You sound like Morgana."

"Well she might just have a point."

"This time," Arthur said. Merlin watched as Arthur slugged his shoulders and took a sip of his coffee.

"Listen…Arthur. Don't take this the wrong way or anything, but maybe it would be best if I withdraw my involvement from your department for a while." That woke Arthur up.

"What?"

"You know, just for a little while until things get settled."

"I don't want you to leave," Arthur said.

"Arthur, you and I both know that all of this shit started happening after I got invited to join your department. Maybe if I leave, everything will fall into place."

"But just because it happened when you got there doesn't mean that it's your fault."

"I know that," Merlin said, "but I just think it would be for the best."

"I need you there Merlin, do you understand? Your expertise is invaluable to our team."

"But my expertise is also invaluable to my station. Look… how about if I just take a couple of days off and go back to the fire department. Maybe you guys will have sorted it out."

"What if we don't?" Arthur said softly. Merlin chuckled.

"This arsonist made his first mistake by leaving the matches there in the first place. Then he takes them. He is starting to panic Arthur, he is going to try and be as careful as possible, in fact overcareful. And being extra anxious is only going to lead to mistakes. He will slip up again and you will be right there to get him. You will figure this out Arthur, I know you can."

Arthur put down his mug, and then grabbed Merlin's mug. Merlin stared at him curiously before Arthur turned and pushed him onto the couch. Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur's neck and pulled him into a deep kiss. Merlin slid his hands along the blonde man's shoulder blades and when he moaned, slipped his tongue into the other man's mouth. Arthur had one of his hands in Merlin's hair; the other was running down Merlin's side to the crook of this hip. Merlin broke the kiss and moaned dipping his head to the side, allowing Arthur to attack the exposed pale skin. Arthur kissed the skin just below Merlin's earlobe before moving lower to suck on his pulse. Merlin arched his back slightly, running his nails lightly down Arthur's back.

Merlin pushed Arthur up into a sitting position looking into Arthur's eyes with dark, lustful eyes. He caressed Arthur forehead, then cheek and neck before sliding both hands along and pushing Arthur's coat off his shoulders. Arthur watched it fall behind him and turned to look at Merlin who met him with his lips. Merlin broke them apart, placing two hands lightly on Arthur's well toned chest, before forcefully pushing him backwards. Arthur let out a little oomph noise, but it turned to a groan as he watched Merlin straddle him. The dark haired boy looked at Arthur seductively under his eyelashes and without warning rolled his hips forwards. Arthur threw his head back and moaned loudly. God, he had never felt this much intense pleasure with a woman, except usually he didn't have much of an emotional connection with them.

Merlin was different, really different. And not just because of his… anatomy. He was different because of his attitude and style. He didn't rush into it, he was always so unpredictable. Arthur shivered when Merlin lightly ran a finger over his kiss swollen lips. It was so sensual. Merlin placed both his hands on either side of Arthur's head before meeting him in a passionate kiss. Arthur lifted his arms, ready to pull the other man as close as he could possible get to him…

"Merlin I'm home oh…" a voice came from the door.

Arthur sat up as Merlin bolted off of him. He turned around to see a dark skinned woman standing in the doorway.

"Well this is… interesting," she said with a large grin.

"Damn," Arthur heard Merlin curse under his breath.

Yes, Arthur thought… _damn._

_

* * *

_

**WOOT!**

**Well there you go, another chapter down. It was a bit short, but I might add another one soon. **

**Sorry about the cliffie though guys :P**

**Hope you enjoyed that**

**PLEASE REVIEW. This took me a while to write. Even a sentence will do. :D**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello I'm back again. I know two chapter, aren't I a champion? Yes TWO. Feel you missed something, that's probably cause you have :P**

**My guilt was eating me up and I realised that last chapter was not long enough to get rid of it, so I am putting up another one. Cliffie from last time. Sorry about that, it was so tempting.**

**So Enjoy this one… the aftermath and other stuff.**

**NOTE: the bit in italics is fragmented memories. This (…~…) means that time has passed in between events.**

**Xox**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 12**

"Merlin, would you care to enlighten me why you are making out with Arthur Pendragon on our couch?" Gwen asked.

"Um…"

"Oh I'm sorry, let me introduce myself, I'm Genevieve but most call me Gwen. I'm Merlin's roommate." She held out a hand.

"Arthur." She smiled.

"I know." Merlin rolled his eyes.

"So," Gwen said putting her bag on the table, "I take it no one knows about this?"

"Just Uther, Morgana and you," Merlin said.

"Oh shit, Morgs found out before me. God I suck." Arthur looked shocked.

"You mean to say… that Morgana… _didn't _tell you something?" Gwen nodded. Arthur breathed loudly. "Wow."

"Yeah and Gwen, we would really appreciate it if you didn't say anything to anyone, at least not until we say so," Merlin said. Gwen nodded.

"Of course. Are you sure you can handle this Merlin, I know you have a thing about secrets and being in the closet…"

"Whoah, OK, Merlin what thing?" Arthur asked. Merlin swallowed nervously. Gwen looked at him surprised.

"You mean you didn't tell him?"

"It's not something to tell."

"What isn't?" Arthur said. He was beginning to get annoyed. Merlin shook his head. Gwen huffed. If Merlin was not going to tell him, then she would.

"Merlin was going to marry a man in the closet once."

"GWEN!" Merlin yelled. Arthur looked gob smacked.

"You were… engaged." Merlin nodded slowly.

"What happened?"

"He figured out he was straight two nights before the wedding. I haven't seen him since. But its OK, I got over him quickly so I don't think I was ever in love with him anyway."

"He was an ass," Gwen said, "don't get me started on him."

"It's fine; it was a long time ago anyway." Merlin said as he sat on the couch.

"Merlin," Arthur said sitting beside him, "its fine that you didn't tell me. You didn't have to. I still have secrets that I'm not ready to share. If you're mad at me…"

"No, I'm not mad. It's OK. I understand your secrets are probably touchier than mine." Arthur took his hand.

"Thank you." Merlin smiled.

"OK then," Gwen said, "I have an article due in the morning so I'll just leave you to it. Arthur you are welcome to stay the night if you wish." Arthur gaped at her and Merlin blushed.

"It's OK, I know you haven't been together for long, actually I don't. How long have you two been together?"

"Almost two weeks now," Arthur said.

"Naw cute," Gwen said, "Well. Have a nice night."

"Yeah you too Gwen," Merlin said waving as she walked into her room.

"I'm sorry."

"You could have told me you know."

"Yeah I know. I thought you would have found it when you were snooping around on me. I'm surprised you didn't."

"Me too," Arthur said. He paused. "Who was he?"

"His name was Will. Nice guy, always laughing. He was a cop, loved going out and having a good time. Knew what it was like to be on call so he didn't really mine that I missed some things. Thinking about it, we never really had that much in common. I thought we understood each other. But you know…"

"How did it feel?"

"When I found out? I was hurt, like any other break-up would hurt, but I think a little more because we were that close to getting married. I don't know, somehow I felt relieved that I was not walking into a mistake. I dwell on it sometimes, but now I'm creating new memories for my life. Moving forward… moving on."

"I'm glad," Arthur said.

"But I'm still sorry." Arthur nodded.

"Don't worry about it, its fine. You look really tired, you should get some sleep." Merlin nodded and directed Arthur towards his bedroom. Merlin got ready and got into bed, and Arthur stood there, unsure of what to do.

"You can sleep here if you like." Merlin said tapping the bed. Arthur shifted from foot to foot.

"It's OK, no funny business I promise," Merlin said with a smile. He held out his hand and Arthur took it slowly. He kicked off his shoes and slid into the bed beside Merlin.

They just lay there for a while, until Merlin noticed Arthur starting to shake.

"Are you cold?" he asked. Arthur shook his head.

"Stop being so nervous."

"I'm… not," Arthur said.

"That was so unconvincing. It's OK, if you want I'll go and sleep in Gwen's room."

"No," Arthur said quickly. Merlin stayed silent.

"It's just that… I haven't "just gone to sleep" with someone for a long time."

"Oh," Merlin said. Arthur looked worried. Merlin could tell he felt like a dork.

"Well then let me show you. First you climb into the bed. Second you lie down so your head is on the pillow. Then go to sleep." Merlin smiled and Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Its simple Arthur and everything in between that is optional. Only if you're comfortable with it."

Arthur nodded and settled back on the pillow. Merlin settled beside him, being careful not to touch him unless he was OK.

"You don't need to fall off the bed Merlin, you can touch me," Arthur said cheekily. Merlin smacked him and moved back towards him, their arms lightly brushing.

"Goodnight Merlin."

"Goodnight Arthur."

* * *

"Please… don't… stop…"

Merlin woke to the sound of Arthur's whimpering. He sat up and turned his bedside light on, looking over to Arthur. He was slightly tossing in his sleep, his brow lightly covered in sweat. Merlin didn't know whether to shake him awake or just watch him.

"Arthur… Arthur wake up." Arthur gasped loudly as he shot up out of the bed. He was breathing heavily looking around as if he didn't know where he was. Merlin let him get his bearing.

Finally Arthur's breathing slowed down and he turned to Merlin.

"How… how much did you see?"

"I was right here," Merlin said. Arthur wiped his brow and relaxed his shoulders.

"They never stop, no matter how hard I try."

"What doesn't?"

"Nightmares, scenarios about how I could have stopped my mother from dying. But tonight was a bit of what actually happened." Merlin put his arm around Arthur who flinched slightly, but settled into the embrace.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"You told me about a big event in your life, its only fair I should tell you mine."

"You don't have to tell me just to make it fair," said Merlin, "just tell me if you want to." Arthur looked at him.

"I want to."

"OK," Merlin replied kissing him softly on the forehead. Arthur hesitated before taking a deep breath.

"It was three years ago… 7th of April…"

_Arthur Pendragon wondered through the hallways of C.B.I Headquarters looking for two people in particular. Arthur was at the height of his career, he was single, gunning his cases and had his family to support him. His family, the one thing that kept this place going._

_He strode into his father's office and froze as he saw his mother on his father's lap._

"_Oh God, mum!" Arthur said covering his eyes._

"_Arthur, you can't just come walking in here whenever you want. Can you at least knock?" Uther said. Ygraine smiled brightly and blushed._

"_Why should I? Its going to be my office anyway isn't it?"_

"_With the way your acting, you're lucky if I let you touch the photographs."_

_Ygraine hopped off her husband's lap and embraced her twenty year old son._

"_How are you?" Ygraine said._

"_I am wonderful, my cases are going great."_

"_Indeed," said Uther, "You know he's the one who solved the Sigan case."_

"_Really? That was very difficult; I thought your father was going to hit something."_

"_Ygraine," Uther said sternly. She laughed._

"_What are you going to do? Throw me out?" Uther softened._

"_You know I could not live a day without you," he said. Ygraine kissed him lightly._

"_That is so disgusting cute. I'll just be going now."_

"_Have a good rest of the day," Uther said, "You can have it off if you like."_

"_Great, I'll go hang with Lance."_

…_~…_

_~…~_

"_You know, you really throw like a girl."_

"_I do not!"_

"_Yes you do!"_

"_Shut up Arthur before I hit you," Lance said._

_Arthur laughed. Lance was two years older than him, but they had gone through high school together, and investigator training together. Arthur would always tease Lance saying that he was younger and better than he was, but Lance would just brush it off. They were best friends._

"_OK Arthur my arm is starting to hurt, I'm done for the day. I have to be home by three."_

"_OK dude, see ya."_

"_Where you headed?"_

"_I'm going to go back to C.B.I, see if my mum wants to go for a late lunch. Father gave me the day off."_

"_Cool, see ya later then."_

"_You too mate," Arthur said. He got into his car and drove back to Headquarters._

…_~…_

_~…~_

"_Hello Arthur, I thought your father gave you the day off."_

"_Yeah I was wonderful if you wanted to go to lunch with me?" Ygraine frowned._

"_Oh honey I wish I could but I have to go to an appointment at church. You know the new minister is suffering a bit of grief. His mother died."_

"_Can't you change it?"_

"_Arthur don't be so inconsiderate. He just lost family."_

"_Yeah, of course. Don't worry about it."_

"_Do you want to come with me?"_

"_To church? Nah, mum I think I'll pass."_

"_OK honey, I'll see you tonight then."_

"_OK bye."_

…_~…_

_~…~_

"_Hello?"_

"_Hey man, you at lunch with your mum?"_

"_Nah, dude she had to go to church to see some minister or something."_

"_Oh yeah, his mother died."_

"_Yeah that one."_

"_I like that church. Nice girls. We should go."_

"_Lance!"_

"_OK sorry. Listen gotta go, mum's having a fit."_

"_I still can't believe you live with your mother."_

"_Shut your mouth you!"_

"_OK bye."_

_Arthur chucked his phone on the table. He sat in front of his computer, watching a movie in front of the television that was playing his favourite TV show. Arthur heard a door slam._

"_Hey dad what's up?"_

"_I'm sorry to drag you like this Arthur, but there's a fire and we're short on staff."_

"_It's' fine dad I wasn't doing anything anyway," Arthur said._

"_OK get your coat."_

"_Right, where does this adventure take us?"_

"_The church on Albion Road next to the youth centre." Arthur blanched._

"_Isn't that the one with the minister whose wife just died?" Arthur rushed to put his coat and shoes on._

"_Mother, and how did you know that?" Uther watched his son shake._

"_Because mum is there."_

…_~…_

_~…~_

"_MUM! Mum where are you?" Arthur ran around the burning church. He was struggling to breathe. Put his hand in front of his face and coughed._

"_MUM!"_

"_Ar-thur…" Arthur looked down to see a figure on the floor._

"_Mum NO!"_

…_~…_

_~…~_

"_Arthur it's done, she's gone. She's gone."_

"_She can't be… she can't be gone."_

"_I'm sorry."_

"_I could have saved her. I could have stopped this whole mess from happening. Why didn't I do something?"_

"_Arthur," Uther said, "C'mon let's go."_

"_NO! I want to stay. I want to find who did this, so I can kill them."_

"_Arthur you are stricken with grief. We need to go home."_

"_No dad. NO! Please, stop pulling me I don't want to go… Stop… NO!"…_

…_~…_

_~…~_

"I haven't… been back to that church to this day," Arthur said and Merlin handed him a tissue before taking one himself.

"Arthur, I'm so sorry. You have to understand, this was not your fault." Arthur sobbed.

"If only she had come to lunch with me. If I had gone to church with her instead of being an idiot, we could both be alive."

"You don't know that, you could both be dead." Arthur leaned into Merlin's shoulder.

"I'm sorry I've kept you up."

"I'm glad that you had the courage to share that with me," Merlin said. Arthur smiled slightly.

"C'mon, you need to go back to sleep. You think you can?" Arthur nodded.

Merlin helped Arthur lie down before lying down with him. Arthur pulled Merlin towards him, shaking slightly, but holding tightly. Merlin sighed. This man's mother died in something he feels he could have prevented. It must have been killing him all this time. Merlin closed his eyes and relaxed into Arthur's embrace. They stayed like that until morning.

* * *

**There you go guys… the first hints at what happened to Arthur's mother.**

**And I bet none of you saw the Will thing coming eh?  
**

**Next chapter should be up in about a week or so. And PLEASE REVIEW.**

**You know you want to. C'mon… please :D**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews last time. I have answered some questions from the reviews and if I have told you stuff, it would be nice if you didn't spoil it for the rest of the readers. Sorry, I love surprises. :D**

**Anyways, next chapter is here.**

**Enjoy xox

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**

**Chapter 13**

Arthur bought his lips down onto Merlin's gently, before he smiled and walked out of his apartment. It was Saturday, so Arthur could go home, then to the office, before being able to spend the whole day with Merlin once again. He didn't think he would, but Arthur liked the idea of meeting someone on a weekend, instead of sitting in his office or at home playing computer games about knights and dragons. No one would ever know about the knights and dragons bit. Ever.

Arthur got into his car and drove home, only to meet, by some unfortunate coincidence, Morgana in the parking lot.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, what are you doing here?" Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me Morgana, I… unlike you actually live here."

"And why aren't you in there now instead of coming in here from an unknown place. Where were you last night Arthur?" Arthur groaned.

"Why are you here Morgana?"

"Well," she said excitedly, "I was actually going to invite you and a friend to a movie tonight." Arthur smiled.

"You won that competition didn't you?" Morgana giggled and clapped her hands. That was the talk for weeks, the company raffle. Won by Morgana who bought thirty tickets, in six groups across an entire week. Arthur thought it was so people didn't actually work out how many tickets she had bought, and like all usual Morgana plans, it had tragically failed.

"So you invited Gwen as the fourth person obviously."

"Yes, which means I had two tickets left. So do you want to come?" Arthur thought about it. Maybe he could bring Merlin, and it could be their first proper date... thing. But with Morgana and Gwen.

"Do my friend and I have to sit with you?"

"If what you're asking is, if I bring Merlin can I use this as a date so can you leave us alone then yes, I'm sure Gwen would agree to that." Arthur almost laughed.

"You sly bitch," he settled for.

"I try," Morgana said, "see you at Merlin's at six if you're up for it OK?"

"Yeah alright. Thanks Morgana."

"For what?" She smiled and drove out of the car park.

* * *

"Good morning Merlin," Gwen greeted happily. Merlin yawned.

"Morning Gwen."

"Sounds like you had a late night." Merlin's eyes widened.

"Oh no! No! Nothing like that. We were just talking, that's all."

"OK then, you don't have to convince me. I know what you're like when it comes to… that." Merlin blushed.

"Yeah um… sorry." Gwen put the French toast in front of Merlin.

"So, what are you going to do today?"

"Well, Arthur had to go home and then to the office for a little bit, but after that it's Saturday so we are spending the day together."

"Oh that's cute, a day outside the office. You know what; you should go on a date tonight."

"What?"

"Yeah Morgana won these movie tickets in a raffle and she can bring three friends, she said I could invite someone so I was going to ask you. She probably asked Arthur about it already so… why don't you make it a date? I'm sure Morgana will be more than happy to stay out of your way if I convince her."

It would be nice for Merlin and Arthur to go on a first date. It was something he had been thinking about since the beginning. He thought that the night they were at the bar would have been enough, but now this opportunity has come about, he couldn't think of a better way to have a first date. Sure, going to the movies was very teenage, but for Arthur, this was new to him. Maybe he would appreciate something simple to start.

"Yeah, I think that would be nice. Thanks Gwen." Gwen smiled.

"My pleasure Merlin."

* * *

"You're late," Arthur said.

"I'm sorry, I was on the phone with Gaius."

"Gaius…you mean the Prime Minister?" Merlin smiled.

"Oh yeah. It's weird to be on a first name basis with the PM. Sometimes I don't even remember who I'm talking to. Oh god the things I've said…"

"Now is not the time. What did he want anyway?"

"Just wanted to know how things are going. I assumed that your father had told him most about what had been happening."

"Yeah he has," Arthur said.

"I thought so, which is why I don't understand why the PM would call me up and ask all the questions that Uther has supposedly already answered."

"Maybe it's because he knows my father will tell him only the things he wants to hear."

"Arthur," Merlin gasped, almost sarcastically.

"I'm serious. My father may be brilliant, but he's also a very clever suck up." Merlin smiled, then blanched as a realisation hit him.

"Do you think he's done it to me?"

"Oh I know he has, how do you think you got the job?"

"Ha, very funny," Merlin said, "So, did you stop by the office?"

"Yeah, and I um… a picked up a couple of things we could look over."

"Oh," Merlin said. Arthur raised his eyebrow.

"Oh? What is oh?"

"Well… I just don't see why we have to work on a weekend, when we could be spending time with each other," Merlin said honestly.

"Do you… want to spend time with me?"

"Of course I do." Arthur smiled.

"Really?"

"Of course Arthur, I am getting the feeling you don't do this very often."

"What?"

"Hang out with friends when you're not at work." Arthur shyly sat down on his couch next to Merlin.

"Is it really that obvious?"

"Only a bit when you wanted to work with me on a weekend." Arthur sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"I'm a bad person to hang around with."

"No you're not Arthur," Merlin said.

"I don't know what happened to me, I used to be fun."

"You still are fun. In your own… subtle, disintegrated kind of way, but you still have some fun in you."

"Wow Merlin, that made me feel so much better."

"OK, maybe disintegrated was not the right word to use. But it's just because you haven't had a weekend off in… how long?"

Arthur said something that Merlin couldn't hear.

"I'm sorry what?"

"I said never." Merlin's jaw dropped. Arthur had never had a weekend off? How did he survive, or receive emotional release from the stresses of work?

"You have got to be kidding me."

"I didn't have anything else to do. I would sit at home for a while doing nothing and then in the end, I would end up going back to the office one way or another and just stay there." Merlin took a deep breath.

"OK then," he said getting off the couch and grabbing Arthur's hand, "we are going out."

"Where are we going?"

"To do something fun."

"I don't want to do something fun, can't I just stay here with you?" Merlin put a hand flat on his chest.

"Are you saying I'm not fun?"

"No, no! I just…"

"You just nothing, we are going and that is final." Arthur nodded.

"OK, well can you tell me where we are going?"

"Nope, it's a surprise."

* * *

Arthur did not usually bite his fingernails, but at that moment, he couldn't bite them fast enough.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Yes Arthur jeez, relax OK, it's perfectly safe. And you're going to be with me. It's really great, you'll see."

They turned the corner and Merlin entered the carnival car park. Arthur got out of the car and look around. It was the perfect day to be outside. The sun was shining and not a single cloud was in the sky. Merlin was walking in front of him with a huge smile on his face.

"You're taking me to the circus?"

"It's not the circus Arthur. It's a carnival. I used to come here all the time."

"Yeah me too, when I was ten. Aren't we a little old now?" Merlin shook his head.

"One is never too old for a carnival."

"Is that another dumb saying that you just made up?"

"My mother told me that so don't you dare insult me," Merlin snapped. Arthur backed away a little.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Arthur."

"No, I'm sorry Merlin."

"You've been saying that a lot today. Don't worry about it. We came here to have fun didn't we? So let's go."

Merlin started walking towards the crowds of people.

"So where do you want to go first Arth-" Merlin looked beside him expecting Arthur to be there, but he wasn't. He turned around to see Arthur still standing beside the car, eyes fixed on the crowds of people. Merlin walked back to him.

"Arthur what's wrong?" Arthur looked sadly at Merlin. He sighed.

"I don't know if I can go in there."

"Why not?"

"It's just… people with their families who probably do this on a weekly basis. It… just hurts a bit more than I would like it to."

"Arthur, you're going to have to move forward sometime. You can't just avoid every place that has a sense of familial happiness. What kind of life would you live?"

Arthur looked at the crowd again, watching three young girls run into their mother's arms rambling on about some ride they had just been on.

"OK, I've seen enough, we can go home now."

"Not a chance in hell Arthur, I'm not going to let you run away."

"Merlin I'm not ready," Arthur said.

"Well I think you are. But if I'm going to have to fight you because you don't want to be here, then we'll do what you want." Merlin kissed Arthur's hand and got into the car. Merlin had a feeling it would be a bit too soon; he just really wanted Arthur to experience something that he hadn't in a while. Merlin turned the keys in the ignition and looked up, only to see Arthur walking out towards the field. Merlin opened his window.

"Arthur… Arthur, where are you going?"

* * *

Arthur could hear Merlin yelling from behind him, but he was not turning back. He had his eyes set on one thing. Arthur approached the distraught looking little boy carefully.

"Um… hello." The boy backed away in fear. He had dark hair, a little lighter than Merlin's and piercing blue eyes.

"It's OK; I'm not going to hurt you. Are you lost?" The boy hesitantly nodded.

"Alright, I'm Arthur, what's your name?"

"Mondred," the little boy said quietly.

"Nice to meet you Mondred."

"I've lost my mother," Mondred said sobbing. Arthur felt a stab in his heart.

"Me too."

"Is she coming back?" Arthur bit his lip.

"No she's not. But I can help you find yours if you like." Mondred smiled slightly and nodded holding out his hand. Arthur hitched a breath slowly reaching out his hand to the young boy's. Arthur almost flinched at the contact, but slowly accepted it as Mondred smiled widely at him.

"Are you alright Arthur?" Arthur nodded.

"Yes, yes I'm fine. Now tell me, what does your mother look like?"

* * *

Merlin could not believe what he was seeing. Arthur was talking to a little boy who looked very upset. Merlin came to the conclusion that he had probably lost whoever he was with. It was frightening for a kid, who, judging was probably about five or six, to be in a big crowd alone. A part of Merlin wanted to go and help Arthur, but the other part wanted him to stay here and let him do it on his own. This was a big step for him, and Merlin smiled proudly as Arthur hesitantly took the small hand that was offered to him. Merlin decided it would not do any harm if he observed from a distance.

* * *

Arthur was on a mission. He was looking for a brown haired woman in a purple flowered dress and a sun hat. It was like a huge game of "Where's Wally", trying to find one person in a million people.

"Hey I have an idea," Arthur said, "why don't we climb that big hill over there so we can see better?"

"That's a good idea I think," Mondred said. Mondred started to run, almost dragging Arthur along with him. When they reached the top and Arthur looked out into the crowd, he put on his detective glasses. He scanned the mass of people, eliminating the blonds, red heads and greys. Next he eliminated all the people without hats. Mondred shifted closer to him as he then got rid of all the men. Even with all these factors gone, Arthur couldn't seem to locate the women.

"There!" Mondred yelled, his little pale finger pointing towards the centre of the crowd. Sure enough, there was a woman, moving quickly through the crowd, looking down and stopping for a moment in front of all the children.

"C'mon then," Arthur said pulling Mondred down the hill. Arthur walked right up to the woman.

"Excuse me madam," Arthur said. The women looked up at Arthur, then down at Mondred and smiled widely.

"Mondred! Oh thank goodness."

"Mum!" Mondred let go of Arthur's hand and ran and embraced his mother. She hugged and kissed him frantically like she would never see him again after that moment.

"Oh thank you," she said coming up to Arthur, "thank you so much."

"It was a pleasure madam," Arthur said, "your son is very gifted to have a mother…um, I mean a mother that was so worried about him."

"I cannot thank you enough," she said, patting Mondred's head.

"No need to thank me."

"Actually," Merlin's voice came from behind him, "there is… something I think would be fitting." Arthur looked at Merlin confused. Where did he come from?

"Anything," she said. Merlin smiled at Arthur evilly.

* * *

"Bye Arthur."

"Goodbye Mondred," Arthur waved getting into Merlin's car.

"Naw, he was cute," Merlin said.

"Yeah, but a mongrel in the dodgem cars. Did you see his face every time he hit me?"

"I know, your face was funny as well."

"I can't believe the thanks I get for returning that little boy, was a ride on the dodgem cars."

"Well, you have to admit, you had fun."

"I… did not."

"Yes you did Arthur I saw you laughing." Arthur shrugged.

"OK, maybe it was a little fun."

"You see? And Nimueh was nice as well."

"Yes she was. He is very lucky."

"I'm sure you told him that didn't you?"

"Maybe once or twice," Arthur admitted. Merlin nodded.

"I'm really proud of you Arthur."

"Really?"

"Yes, you helped someone today find family when before today you probably couldn't stand seeing one. That is progress. I'm really happy for you."

"It was all because of you," Arthur said, "So thank you."

"I didn't do anything Arthur."

"Yes you did Merlin, you made me believe in family again. In motherhood, no one had helped me do that before."

"Well then I am honoured."

"Shut up Merlin." Merlin pouted, pulling into Arthur's parking lot.

"Anyway, I was supposed to ask before, but I was wondering if tonight you wanted to go to the movies with me?" Merlin's jaw dropped.

"You want to go to the movies?"

"Yeah… you know, like for our first date."

"Arthur…"

"I know it might be a bit cheesy, but if you want to go…"

Merlin undid his seatbelt and leaned over to the passenger's seat, capturing Arthur's lips with is own. He wrapped his fingers into Arthur's golden locks, deepening the kiss. He ran his tongue along Arthur's bottom lip before Arthur groaned and allowed him entrance. Arthur's tongue touched his playfully and Merlin smiled, breaking away.

"That was so sweet," Merlin said, "I would love to go."

"That's good."

"I was going to ask you too you know."

"Really?" Arthur said. Suddenly it daunted on the two of them that they had got set up.

"Those bitches," they said in unison smiling.

Yes, it was plainly obvious the two girls had done it again.

* * *

**YAY!**

**Another chapter down.**

**That one was a bit different than the others, but I just wanted them to get out of the workplace and out as normal people. I liked this chapter a lot.**

**Hope you guys do too.**

**PLEASE REVIEW. It takes like two seconds. One word. PLEASE. Click the button… C'mon. I might put something extra special in the next chapter… :D**

**Enough begging. I'm so sad.**

**Next chapter should be up soon**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey Guys!**

**I know, it's been a while. I have had a few requests for this chapter, so I'm going to try and put them in. And thank you so much for all the reviews. I'm really glad people are enjoying it so much. And yes… there will be special stuff as promised; I'm surprised so many of you remembered me writing that :D**

**I'm also really glad that the structure of last chapter was liked so much; I was a bit worried about it.**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter. **

**Enjoy! Xox

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**

**Chapter 14**

"Are you sure you can go through with this?"

"Of course I can, I want it just as much as you and you will do well to remember that."

There was a pregnant pause between the two men. They both knew what had to be done. The man threaded his fingers through his dark hair, before putting on his hat and glasses. He held out his hand for the other to take.

"We are getting serious now. Well then… you know what you need to do."

He walked out the door of the bar, followed shortly by the other man, no one knowing the meeting had taken place…

* * *

Morgana was smiling all the way to Arthur's apartment. It was five thirty, and it was almost time for the four friends to meet at the movies. But of course, seeing as Morgana planned for this to be Arthur and Merlin's first date, she needed to make sure that Arthur had a little… guidance before the date took place. That mostly meant Morgana picking out what Arthur was going to wear.

She knocked on Arthur's apartment and heard a loud groan from inside.

"Why does it have to be tonight?" Morgana heard Arthur complain.

"Because I have had these tickets for two weeks and they expire tonight. Now hurry up and open the door Arthur!"

Morgana heard another muffle and small crash before the door swung open, revealing Arthur in the sexiest outfit Morgana had seen in her life. Arthur was wearing black tight skinny jeans with a nice dark blue long sleeved top. He had a silver chain around his neck and a nice pair of dark dress shoes. She could also see a black leather jacket hanging over the arm of the couch. Morgana had forgotten to breathe and let it out, turning it into a long sigh.

"Is it too much?" Arthur said softly. Morgana violently shook her head.

"Shit, Arthur no way. You look damn hot! Now hurry up and let me in, before someone sees you and decides to ravish you in the hallway and claim you for themselves." Arthur stepped aside and Morgana moved quickly into the apartment.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came because I thought you were going to be a hopeless case at preparing for this but," Morgana looking up and down Arthur, "I can see now that I was clearly mistaken."

Arthur blushed slightly. Morgana waved her hand at Arthur.

"Why have I not seen these clothes before Arthur? And where did you develop such impeccable taste?"

"Um… I was saving these clothes for a special occasion, I thought… you know, this would be a great time to get them out, seeing as I actually have a reason to impress someone. And my… mother always said I looked good in blue, so I thought I would wear blue. This just happens to be a shirt I found."

"Well either way Arthur, you look fantastic." Arthur smiled.

"You're not so bad yourself Morgana. If I was actually interested in you, I would have jumped you by now."

"Don't insult me Arthur," Morgana snapped, "but thank you, I know I look good." She was wearing a white lace dress that came just above the knees along with black, high heeled peak toe shoes. She walked over and sat on the couch.

"Why were you complaining about this being tonight?"

"I don't know I just… I don't feel ready."

"Nonsense, Arthur, you are ready. I know you really like Merlin. This is your chance to really move forward in you life. And you don't even need to be worried, because you have your father's support."

"Thank you for that by the way, I'm never telling you anything again."

"You're welcome and yes you will. Anyway," Morgana patted the couch next to her and Arthur sat down.

"Does being in a relationship with Merlin feel right?" Arthur nodded.

"Does you stomach do that jumpy thing you always used to tell me about every time you're with him?" Arthur smiled and hesitantly nodded.

"Do you want to keep him around for a while?"

"Yes Morgana! Now please tell me, what is your point?" Morgana slapped his arm.

"My point, you ass, is that you don't need to worry. Merlin feels the same. He's not going anywhere. God, anyone who has kept you around for this long isn't going anywhere."

"Shut up."

"But really, you need to just take a chill pill and be yourself. That's who Merlin likes." Arthur smiled. She was right, as always.

"Thanks Morgana. OK then. Let's go."

* * *

"Gwen I'm nervous."

"Merlin don't worry, it's going to be fine. And you look wonderful by the way."

"Thank you," Merlin said.

"You're welcome, look there's Morgana and Arthur now."

Merlin looked up and his jaw almost dropped to the ground. Arthur looked absolutely breathtaking. He was wearing tight jeans with a navy shirt and leather jacket. Oh fuck, he looked so damn good. Merlin watched as Arthur raked his eyes down his own body, absently licking his lips. Merlin was wearing a tight blood red shirt with white jeans and black boots. He was also wearing, much to Gwen's insistence, a gold crucifix around his neck. Gwen had said it made him look sexy.

Arthur walked over to Merlin.

"You look amazing," Arthur whispered to him.

"So do you."

"Alright, now we are done perving, can we please get into the cinema?"

"What are we going to see?" Gwen asked.

"What's in cinema two sounds good. C'mon we better hurry. Merlin stop drooling and close your mouth."

Merlin's eyes widened, before he closed his mouth and blushed. Arthur smiled and guided him to the cinema. Merlin liked this confident Arthur, it made him want to do unspeakable things to him right out in the open.

The cinema complex itself was pretty small, with only five cinemas. It was fairly new, recalling the opening three years ago to which he attended, but he thought at the time, that he didn't think he would ever come here. Merlin preferred watching things on DVD on his couch with Gwen, then going to some place to sit and watch a movie on a really big screen, probably where hundreds of people had sat before him. But going with Arthur, he didn't seem to mind.

As they walked to the cinema, Morgana was giving Arthur a brief overview about the movie they were going to watch, and it sounded alright to him. He would have thought Morgana would have chosen a soppy love story, but he actually thought the choice was respectable. He still couldn't believe how wonderfully ravishing Merlin looked. Who would have thought the scruffy captain could scrub up so well.

Morgana and Gwen made sure that they sat three rows behind Merlin and Arthur in the cinema, which the boys were glad about. That means that they could half enjoy the movie in peace. As the cinema started to get darker, Merlin lifted the arm of the seat and put it up so that Arthur could wrap his arm around him. There were not that many people in the cinema and they were the furthest back, so they were comfortable with being close to each other.

Half way through the advertisements, Arthur's phone vibrated. Merlin looked at him and as Arthur checked who it was.

_You should turn your phone off in a cinema you idiot, especially on a date! Or are you just rude? Gwen and I decided to ditch to have dinner & a drink. Merlin's car is still in the parking lot. Have fun, I don't expect you home 2nite. xx Morgana._

Arthur turned around to see the girls' seats empty.

"Is something wrong?" Merlin asked.

"They ditched us," Arthur said.

"What?" Merlin turned around and laughed.

"I guess when they said not sitting anywhere near us, they meant nowhere near us." Arthur chuckled and Merlin settled back onto his shoulder.

* * *

The movie started and already Merlin loved how this date was going. Arthur was so comfortable with him, his arm was around him and he was drawing circles lightly on his shoulder. Merlin sighed and snuggled closer, opening his mouth obediently as Arthur offered him some popcorn they had bought. Merlin smiled. It was really nice to be with someone he cared about, just doing something normal for once. It felt really good.

Arthur was glad he was here with Merlin all his worries and nerves were forgotten as he dropped some popcorn into Merlin's waiting mouth. He was so cute. Arthur definitely wouldn't have thought about any other man that way. It was like Merlin had cast a spell on him, one that could make him melt every time he was in the other man's presence. They had been going out for two weeks exactly today and Arthur didn't know how he felt so connected to him. It was nice, and yet it scared the hell out of him. Nothing this good could come without a price, he had learnt that the hard way. Arthur just hoped it wasn't too high.

Suddenly, Merlin stiffened in his touch.

"Merlin, what's wrong?"

"Do you smell that?"

"Do I smell what?"

"The kerosene…" And at that moment, the smell hit him. That substance that was one of the reasons that he had a job. The substance that combined with the right element could cause immediate devastation. No… no. He needed to get Merlin out of here.

"C'mon we need to go. Now." Merlin nodded and dragged Arthur down towards screen and to the exit. Just as they got to the last stair, a line of fire surged from the floor near the screen to the front rows. It traveled around the walls of the cinema to the middle rows. Arthur grabbed onto Merlin's hand tightly and tugged him towards the other exit, but they were met by a fire in the top corner that spread across, blocking their way out once again. A line of fire spread through the front row of the cinema, blocking all those people who were there, access to the back exit. Merlin and Arthur were separated from the rest of the group.

The twenty or so other people in the theatre were panicking, some screaming for help at the top of their lungs. Merlin looked at Arthur, who was beginning to sweat, his eyes scanning the large room, looking for another exit. All Merlin could hear was the blazing and crackling of fire, screaming and panting coming from Arthur. He coughed, the smoking inhalation starting to take its tole on him. Arthur shortly followed.

"It's OK Arthur, its going to be fine." Arthur nodded and squeezed his hand tighter. Merlin could tell he was trying his best not to panic. The fire was surging up the walls, and beginning to burn the corners of the ceiling. Merlin was getting worried. Even though this building was new, he didn't know whether it could withstand the damage that the fire was doing. Merlin watched as some of the people in the rows further to the front were trying to put the fire out with their drinks, which Merlin knew would not work. Merlin walked over to them to tell them to stop when he was interrupted by a man, screaming.

"That's it, I'm out of here." And he set of in a run towards the exit… through the fire.

"NO!" Merlin yelled, but it was too late. A violent scream rang through the cinema as the man was engulfed by the flames. Merlin could not tear his eyes away. He watched the man struggle, trying to get back to the safeness of the rows of seats, but his plastic shoes had melted on impact and his feet burnt, leaving him with nowhere to go. He thrashed in the fire, screaming at the top of his lungs and fell to the ground, patting his body in different places. Then he stopped moving. The cinema was silent once again.

Merlin turned back to Arthur and gasped at the most scared expression he had ever seen. Arthur had seen the whole thing and Merlin had just stood there, not even thinking about him. Merlin jumped when he heard a large crack coming from above and watched as a large piece of the ceiling fell, right towards where Arthur was standing. Arthur was not going to move. Merlin raced to him grabbing Arthur by the waist and hauling him out of the way. He screamed as the big piece of material landed on his ankle.

Merlin fought back tears as he looked at Arthur, who was staring straight at him.

"Merlin…" he sobbed, "that man, he… he just…"

"I know Arthur I know. Its OK, we're here, and we are alright." Arthur nodded.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Merlin bit his lip.

"I don't know. All the exits are blocked, even the emergency one." Arthur looked away.

"We're going to die here, aren't we?"

"Don't say that Arthur, don't you dare," Merlin said, "we are going to get out of this alive."

"That man didn't."

"That man panicked and did something completely irrational. We are going to think this through."

Merlin reaching into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

"Val!"

"_Hey man, what's up?"_

"Val, I need you to listen to my very carefully. There is a kerosene fire in cinema two of Alvaar cinemas in Camelot."

"_Whoah, hold on. How do you know this?"_

"Because I'm in the cinema."

"_Holy shit man, I'll get the boys over there right away. Is it bad?"_

"Very bad. One person dead already and its spreading fast."

"_I'll alert everyone. Thank god you have your phone on you. Can you get out?"_

"All exits blocked."

"_Don't worry about it man, we're on our way."_

"Thanks hopefully I'll see you soon."

"_You know it."_

Merlin hung up and turned to Arthur who shivered slightly, orange light dancing across his face.

"Arthur it's alright," Merlin coughed violently, "the fire brigade is on its way."

"Really?"

"Yes, now we need to find a place with the least amount of kerosene so we can stay there. OK?" Arthur nodded and pulled Merlin up only to have him yell in pain as he forgot about his ankle.

"Are you alright?" Arthur coughed.

"Ceiling… hit ankle… can't walk very… well." Arthur nodded and picked him up bridal style. Merlin lifted his nose and smelled the air, but all he could smell was smoke. He looked around and saw there was a place in the corner where the fire had not spread to yet. He pointed to it and Arthur ran towards it, almost tripping over. Arthur pulled back three arms and lay Merlin down on the chairs, coughing violently. Arthur placed his arm over his mouth to stop himself from inhaling any more smoke. He sighed, now all they had to do was wait.

He sat beside Merlin and smiled when Merlin kissed his forehead to reassure him, and secretly thanked him, when Merlin pulled him close, covering his eyes and ears as the rest of the people in the cinema screamed, as they were eaten alive by the flames.

* * *

**Well well… I don't think many of you saw THAT coming! I know my twin sister didn't when she read it. I swear, any closer and she would have been headbutting the computer screen.**

**Yeah… so that was interesting, I hope.**

**PLEASE REVIEW. Even if you're a visitor, you still can. CMON! :D**

**Next chapter should be up soon… Do Merlin and Arthur make it out alive?... Who lit the fire? *Dramatic music***

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	15. Chapter 15

**HEY GUYS! Yes, I know, it's been a while. School's been really intense lately so yeah. And I finally graduated, I'm so excited **

**But I know that the ending of the last chapter, and the last chapter in general really scared some people. Fear not my friends. :D**

**And thanks for all the reviews last time, almost to 100. I'm excited.**

**So here is the next chapter.**

**Enjoy xox

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**Chapter 15**

"Merlin… _Merlin…Merrrrllinnnn…_"

Merlin slowly opened his eyes and was met with a very boring white ceiling. What?

"Ah, you're awake, good. My name is Dr. Draco Kilgharrah."

"Doctor? Wait. Where… where am I?" Merlin said.

"You're in the hospital, don't you remember?" Merlin creased his eyebrows and closed his eyes trying to remember why he was here…

"_The kerosene…"_

…

"_It's OK Arthur, its going to be fine." Arthur nodded and squeezed his hand tighter._

…

"_That's it, I'm out of here." And he set off in a run towards the exit… through the fire._

…

_Merlin raced to him, grabbing Arthur by the waist and hauling him out of the way._

…

"_Arthur it's alright," Merlin coughed violently, "the fire brigade is on its way."_

…

"_We're going to die here, aren't we?"_

Merlin sat up quickly and gasped, ignoring the hands on his chest trying to push him back down onto the bed. They had almost died in the fire; they had been trapped with no escape route. How did they get out? The fire brigade? But, how did they get there in time?

"Merlin? You passed out from smoke inhalation and you broke your ankle quite severely."

Merlin nodded unsure of what to do. He rotated both his ankles and bit his lip as pain shot through his left leg.

"Merlin, you can't move your ankle, it's basically crushed. You shouldn't be putting yourself under that much stress just after you have woken up."

"How long was I out?"

"About five hours," Dr. Kilgharrah said.

"How did I… how did I get here?"

"I don't know, I was called when you and your companion showed up in an ambulance…" Merlin sat upright.

"Oh God, where's Arthur? Where's Arthur, is he alright?"

"Relax, dear boy. The Young Mr. Pendragon is fine. He is just having a bit of trouble responding to people. He is in quite a bit of shock."

"I need to see him."

"I cannot let you-"

"I need to see him now!" Merlin yelled, sending him into a small coughing fit. He soon recovered and Dr. Kilgharrah sighed.

"I'm fine," he said.

"Alright, but I will have a nurse come in and help you into a wheelchair, as well as accompany you to the room in case anything happens. Tell the nurse your friend Arthur is in room 213."

_Boyfriend, his boyfriend that he is so worried about._

"Thank you so much," He said and the doctor left him alone in his room.

As soon as he left the room, Merlin hunched over and put his hands to his head. He could not believe that he was sitting here, breathing. He didn't even remember passing out. All he remembered was holding Arthur close, whispering soothing things into his ear to stop him from panicking. God, he had never seen him that scared before. But he kept his cool and helped Merlin when he needed it despite his own struggles. And that took an immense amount of courage. Merlin did not know how to repay him for helping him. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door.

"Hello Merlin, I am Cornelius Sigan and I will be taking you to Arthur's room." Merlin raised an eyebrow at the man with the wheelchair.

"OK, I know, being a male nurse is lame, but it's what I love to do."

"No, I think it's wonderful just… unconventional," Merlin said.

"Yes, my mates still haven't got over it. But I learn to endure it," Sigan said, "So, how bad is your ankle?"

"Pretty bad," Merlin said, "But I really need to see Arthur."

"OK since you sound pretty confident, and I am not very strong, do you think I could help you out of bed and then you get in the chair on your own?" Merlin shrugged and then nodded.

"It's worth a try." Sigan smiled brightly.

"OK then, easy now…"

* * *

"Here we are room 213."

Merlin looked at the white door taking a deep breath.

"We can wait if you want."

"No, I'm fine," Merlin said. Suddenly the door opened and Merlin was met with arms around his neck.

"Oh my God, I'm so glad you are OK," Morgana's voice muffled, "Don't you ever, EVER do that again do you understand me?"

"Morgana I'm sorry…"

"Shhh," Morgana said putting a finger to his lips, "Arthur needs you right now."

"How is he?" Merlin asked. Morgana's face saddened.

"He's… I don't know Merlin. He's not responding to anyone. He's been awake for the past hour and a bit. Uther has been trying to talk to him, but nothing. His eyes flicker over like he is looking for something, but he hasn't said anything at all. The most we got out of him was a gasp or a mumble. I can't believe you two were almost killed."

"It's a good thing you two left when you did," Merlin said.

"No it's not! We could have helped."

"It would have inevitably led to more people in danger," Merlin said, "It was better that you left. Gwen's a really bad asthmatic she wouldn't have survived half a minute in there. Speaking of which, is she here?"

"Yes she is, she just went to get some coffee."

"What time is it?" Merlin asked.

"About one in the morning, you gave us quite a scare." Merlin nodded apologetically.

"So you still want to go in Merlin?" Sigan asked suddenly. Merlin jumped, he had forgotten that he was there.

"I'm ready," he said. Morgana stood aside to hold the door open so Sigan to push him in. Merlin took a deep breath, unsure of what to expect.

Arthur's room was identical to Merlin's, except there was a window with the curtains half draw above the bed, letting a small amount of light stream upon it. The lights in the room itself were lit dim.

"Arthur calmed down when we dimmed the lights," Morgana whispered.

Merlin signalled to Sigan and wheeled himself forward towards Uther, who was sitting closely to a bit lump in the bed that was presumably Arthur. Upon his approach, Uther turned to him.

"Hi," Merlin said.

"Hello," Uther answered, "I'm glad you are alright." Merlin nodded.

"Can I?" Uther looked over at his son again and nodded. He got up and moved over the other side of the room to stand with Morgana. The door opened and Gwen stepped in, smiling brightly at Merlin, before handing a cup each to Morgana and Uther.

* * *

Merlin wheeled past Arthur's large body to look at his face. When he slept, he looked so peaceful, so calm. Merlin only wished he was this serene during the day. He didn't want to wake him, but he needed to know. He needed to know what was wrong with him. Whether he was OK. Whether he would respond to him.

Merlin wheeled closer and brushed his hand gently along Arthur's cheek. He could feel him flinch slightly, but soon relax into his touch.

"Arthur," Merlin whispered, "Arthur, wake up."

Merlin watched as Arthur's eyes flickered and opened very slowly. Merlin saw him stare at the ceiling for a while, before turning his head to him. Merlin smiled.

"Hey," he said softly.

Arthur studied his face, his eyes moving all over it, very quickly. Morgana was right; he did look like he was looking for something. Suddenly, Arthur's expression changed. He frowned. Merlin gasped as Arthur grabbed the blankets on his body and moved away from Merlin's touch.

"Don't touch me," Arthur said aggressively and Merlin almost jumped back in surprise. Uther almost wanted to run up to his son and hug him for saying something, but Morgana held him back.

"Arthur," Merlin said kindly again. Arthur huffed and turned away from him.

"I don't want you here. Any of you," Arthur said. Merlin felt like he had been winded. He was not going to stand for this.

"How dare you speak like that to me?" Merlin said angrily.

"Merlin… don't," Gwen whispered.

"Who do you think you are? Stop being such a _prat _and face me!" Merlin wanted to get out of his chair.

The room fell silent. Arthur slowly pulled down the blankets from his shoulders and turned towards Merlin, with dangerous eyes.

"Prat?" He said sarcastically. Merlin opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself when a large smiled appeared across Arthur's face.

"You know, you might want to come up with some better insults Merlin. I don't want to think you have gone dry on me."

"I'll try to increase my vocabulary," Merlin said quickly before he jumped painfully out of his chair into Arthur's waiting arms.

He held on tightly to Arthur, tears trickling down his face.

"God, don't ever do that to me again," Merlin yelled into his shoulder. Arthur lightly chuckled.

"I'll try not to. I'm so sorry Merlin." Merlin pulled away.

"Don't. Don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was. I was in… such a state of shock that I didn't remember you, anyone who came near me. I wanted to hide away; all that I could think of was… that scene playing in my head over and over again. I just, I don't know how to describe what it felt like. To be trapped inside yourself, people coming and saying kind words to you, but you only read them as insults. Wanting to ask them who they were, why they felt so familiar."

Arthur took a deep breath and Merlin took his hand.

"But when… but when you insulted me, I felt so mad. I wanted to get out of the bed, punch you, kick you, do something that would make you understand that you just disrespected me. But instead, something inside me just snapped, like my brain had a huge wall built in the middle of it. I remember now, thank you so much."

"It's OK Arthur, I'm just happy you are alright. I know how scared you were in the fire." Arthur tensed up at the word fire.

"And I just wanted to let you know, that you were really brave when you carried me to safety. I owe you my life," Merlin said. Arthur chuckled.

"Me? You owe me your life? I only carried you to a safer place. Who was the one who pushed me out of the way when the ceiling was going to crush me like a bug, and then broke his ankle paying for it?" Merlin blushed slightly. Arthur turned his face towards him.

"_You,_ were the one who saved my life. Not the other way around. I would be dead if it weren't for you." Merlin smiled.

"Well, when you put it like that…" Arthur bought his face forward and kissed him lightly. Merlin was sure he heard Uther choke on his own saliva.

"Thank you," Arthur whispered.

"I guess I have to say you're welcome or else you will keep pestering me." Arthur shook his head and laughed again.

"Arthur, my son, I'm so glad to see you yourself again," Uther said walking up and embracing his son. Merlin had to move out of the way, because he was now in Arthur's bed.

"Father, I'm so sorry."

"No need son. We will find out who did this. They tried to kill both of you."

"Seriously you don't think…"

"I do Arthur. This matter will not be taken lightly. This just got personal. I lost my wife in a fire; I will not lose my son to it too."

"I understand your concern Uther," Merlin interjected, "but don't you think that concluding that the arsonist who started this fire was only trying to kill us? I mean, there were twenty other people in the cinema."

Merlin gasped as Arthur started to shake slightly next to him. Merlin pulled him close, watching Uther slowly back away with a worried look.

"Arthur, it's alright it's OK. You're safe now; you're here with your family."

"The people, that man and… and the children…"

"I know Arthur I know." Arthur was now gripping Merlin's arm excruciatingly tight.

"I think Arthur needs a bit of time alone," Sigan said, "I must ask you all to leave for a moment." Merlin turned back to Arthur.

"We are just going out for a bit. Are you going to be OK?"

"Please don't leave me," Arthur sobbed. Merlin was shocked at how much affect this fire had had on him.

"Just for a little while. I'll be back soon OK?" Arthur nodded and slid down into his bed. Sigan helped Merlin back into his wheelchair and wheeled him into the corridor where he was met by Uther, the two girls and the doctor.

"Merlin, I hear he responded to you."

"Yeah he explained it, but we bought up the fire and now he's very… disturbed."

"Hm, most likely post traumatic stress, I'll go and see him now."

"OK thank you," Merlin said.

"Merlin, what was Arthur going on about with man and the children?" Morgana asked. Merlin took a deep breath.

"There were about twenty people in the cinema we were in. Let me put it this way… Arthur and I were the only survivors." Morgana gasped and Gwen shook her head. Uther just stood there.

"So you mean that…"

"Yes, there was a man. He couldn't take it, he was overwhelmed by fear. So he… ran into a pit of fire to try and reach the exit. He died a few minutes later. We stood there… watching. I tried not to look, but I just couldn't tear my eyes away. And when I finally did, Arthur was still watching. Frozen still. Like all of time was frozen. He had this look of… absolute horror on his face. Seeing a person die in fire is not a pleasant sight for anyone. But it's more of a reality for me. I don't know if Arthur is going to be able to take it."

"What about the others, did they try to escape as well?"

"No, they were just unfortunate victims. The fire crept up on them, they had no where to go."

Tears were rolling down Gwen and Morgana's faces. Merlin tried to smile at them, but they just shook their heads, made some sort of gesture and walked away. Merlin was left alone with Uther. He bent down so he was almost level with Merlin in the chair.

"Merlin, first of all, I cannot thank you enough for saving my boy's life. I will always be in debt to you."

"Well…"

"Don't be so modest. You sacrificed your own safety for Arthur. I will be forever grateful."

"Thank you sir," Merlin said. Uther bit his lip.

"Do you think… that Arthur will be able to recover from this?"

"I don't know. But I know that he should not go back to work until he has sorted himself out."

"How long do you think that will be?"

"As long as it takes," Dr Kilgharrah said walking out of Arthur's room.

"How is he?" Uther said.

"He's calm now, but whatever you were talking about really unnerved him. I think it best not to bring the subject up in the near future."

"What do you suggest?"

"Well, Arthur can not go back to work for a while, seeing as his work revolves around the area of his distresses. Therefore, I think it best, he stays here for the next few days and then I shall appoint him to some counselling sessions."

"Arthur is too proud to even consider counselling sessions," Merlin said.

"I know, he's already refused. I suppose he will just need some convincing," Dr Kilgharrah. Merlin was confused.

"What does that mean?"

"You two are close, yes?"

"Well… yeah."

"So you must convince him to undergo counselling." Merlin's jaw dropped.

"Whoa, OK. I am not going to force Arthur into something he doesn't want to do. And anyway, it's not my job. Mr Pendragon is his father; he should be discussing this with Arthur before anyone else does." Dr Kilgharrah stepped back a little.

"You are right of course Merlin. However, if Mr Pendragon does fail to convince Arthur to get help, I will call upon you."

"And I shall accept. But I think Uther will have no trouble in persuading Arthur. They are very close."

"But the doctor is right Merlin," Uther said, "If I cannot make Arthur see sense, you must, whatever it takes." Merlin sighed.

"You haven't even tried yet."

"And he cannot now, Arthur is sleeping. He was quite shaken up and needs some rest. Speaking of which, you should go back to your room too Merlin."

"Can't I stay with him?"

"Merlin, you can see him when you have both had a good sleep," Uther said.

"Nurse Sigan, can you kindly escort Mr Emrys back to his room?"

"Of course, off we go," Sigan said turning him around and pushing him back down the corridor.

"See you later Mr Pendragon," Merlin called.

"Uther. And thank you again." Merlin's response was a wave of a hand.

* * *

Merlin once again found himself gazing at his boring white ceiling. Why did he have to try to convince Arthur to go through counselling? Arthur is very strong; Merlin didn't really think he needed it. He just needed some time off from work and some personal help from his family and friends. He shouldn't take over the matter anyway, it was Uther's right to help his son through a crisis, and who was he? The new boyfriend, who happened to turn his son gay? No. Merlin would be there if Arthur needed him, but for now he would just back off. When he was with the Pendragons, everything seemed a lot harder, that was the reason he suggested leaving the CBI for a while. Well Merlin, you got your wish, you're not going back there for a while.

Merlin sighed, why do I always get myself into such fucked up situations?

"Merlin." Merlin sat upright.

"Merlin are you awake?"

"Who's there?" Merlin didn't know where the voice was coming from, but it was definitely in the room.

"God, always have to make things complicated by asking too many questions."

"Arthur?" Arthur walked out of Merlin's bathroom wearing a white shirt and black boxers.

"How long have you been in there?"

"About ten, they will probably notice I'm gone, but I don't really care."

"Why are you here?"

"Because Merlin," Arthur said walking up to the bed, "I just… don't want to be alone."

"But your father was there."

"For god's sake Merlin, I don't want to receive comfort from my father. He wouldn't understand."

"What do you mean?" Arthur sat down in the chair next to his bed and put his face in his hands.

"How do you do it?" Merlin cocked his head to one side.

"Do what?"

"Handle what happened so well. I can't… I can't sleep much; I can't have the lights on too brightly. How do you stop yourself from reacting to everything around you after… something like that happens?" Merlin sighed and turned onto his side facing Arthur.

"You don't handle it. Sure, you remember that it happened; you ponder and grieve for a while. But then, you have to move on. There is no point living life in fear Arthur. After a traumatic event, life does not just stop moving, it keeps going. Sometimes instead of trying to handle the situation, you should try to see what good can happen after it. Being a fireman, if someone doesn't make it, I don't ponder on the "what ifs" or the "if onlys", I think about what I can do differently so I can save another life if the situation is similar. But when one passes, I think about all the people that have been saved. You can't dwell on the past Arthur. I'm still pretty shaken up about what happened though. I guess you could say that I am handling it, but not well. Just… handling it. And that's enough."

"What if it's not… as easy for me?" Arthur said. Merlin smiled slightly and moved over, patting the bed so Arthur could lay down with him. They lay face to face, Merlin looking into Arthur's eyes.

"I'm not saying it's going to be easy for you. You have been through some pretty intense stuff Arthur. I have learned to cope because I have trained for it. You, on the other hand, you did not need to, because you don't see what we see. But now you have, I think you should be ready for what it brings."

"And how do I do that?"

"The doctor asked you about counselling yes?"

"Yeah, and I said no. No way am I going to sit down with some shrink telling me what I should be doing and what I should be feeling. That's just bullshit."

"I know it is. But… I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think you should at least give it a try."

"What?"

"Just once Arthur. If you don't feel comfortable, you can always stop."

"I don't want to Merlin."

"What if I came with you?" Arthur looked away. Merlin brought a hand up to his face, caressing his cheek with his thumb.

"You would do that?" Arthur said looking back up. Merlin shifted the tiniest bit closer.

"I don't know what's happening to me Arthur. I'm always so, composed and in control of my relationships, and we have only been together for a short while. But when I'm with you, I just lose all of my control, like it's my duty to serve you and protect you. Like I would do anything for you, maybe even give up my own life. And it frustrates me, not because what I'm feeling is necessarily bad, it's because I don't know, well… I just don't know. I don't know what the future will bring for us. I don't know why I feel this way. I don't know whether after this, you will call me a girl, or slap my face. And I don't know what I am making such a long speech. Hey, that got a smile. Anyways, my point is, I care about you Arthur, and if going with you… half way across the world and back is what it's going to take to make you happy, I'll do it."

"Even for a wreck like me?" Arthur sobbed, tears running freely from his eyes.

Merlin laughed, tears running down his face as well. He used his thumb to wipe away some of the tears.

"Even from a cripple like me?" Merlin replied, wiggling his leg. Arthur moved forward and kissed him softly. Merlin pulled Arthur close, feeling Arthur's tears on his face, cherishing this beautiful moment. Arthur pulled back.

"Oh God, look at me I'm crying like a girl. Merlin, you're turning me into a sop." Merlin laughed and Arthur turned on his back, Merlin's head resting on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a long while.

"Yes, by the way," Merlin said.

"Yes what?"

"Even for a wreck like you." Arthur pouted and Merlin laughed and patted his chest slightly.

"And also to your question, yes," Arthur said.

"Yes what?"

"I'll go and… see a counsellor." Merlin lifted his head.

"Really? Arthur, that's brilliant."

"Only if you come with me, OK?"

"OK."

"Promise?" Merlin kissed his cheek, making Arthur roll his eyes. Merlin smiled.

"I promise."

* * *

**Well there you go guys. WOW! That was extremely long. Please tell me if it dragged on for a bit too long, or it was just right. This means… PLEASE REVIEW! That was pretty much plot, getting ready for the next little stage in the story. I hope it wasn't too boring.**

**!Important!: Now I'm going to be starting final exams in a couple of weeks so I don't know when the next chapter is going to be up. So if it's a bit late, I am so sorry. That is one of the reasons I made this so long, just in case I don't get to update for a couple of weeks. **

**Until next time,**

**xox**

**emiliexox**


	16. Chapter 16

**THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED ON THE 26/10/10: SEE AUTHOR'S NOTE**

**HEY GUYS! Long time since we've spoken… or written. Anyways, my exams aren't over yet but I have a bit of a break so I thought I would write another chapter. I didn't like leaving it for too long. I know a lot of things happened last chapter so yeah… hope you enjoy this one.**

**And thanks for all the wonderful reviews. This chapter is dedicated the 100****th**** one: **_**WinterStorrm**_**:D**

**Enjoy xox**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

Arthur turned his head slightly and squinted at his calendar for the tenth time that hour, counting all the days that he had conveniently procrastinated from seeing a counsellor. Five days… Ten days… Twelve days… and today was number thirteen. Thirteen days since he has woken up in the dreadful white room. Almost two weeks since well… what Arthur liked to call in his mind "The Cinema Incident". For him it made it sound less intimidating or serious, like someone pushed in front of him in the line, or they were out of Arthur's favourite chips and they were too lazy to go to the back and get some more for him. Fucking cinema, Arthur hated the cinema. He only went for Merlin.

Merlin. Arthur looked over to Merlin who was sitting in a chair, his bandaged leg up on another table nearby, quietly reading a book.

"Arthur, how long are you going to stare at that calendar for?"

"Until I figure out a day to go to the counsellor."

"Arthur," Merlin said putting his book aside, "the counsellor made it extra clear to you that you could go see him any time you wanted. He would cancel any appointment he had for you." Arthur scoffed.

"Is that supposed to be incentive for me to go Merlin?"

"Well… no but-"

"Then, I'll decide for myself when I'm going to go."

Merlin rolled his eyes and mentally groaned to himself. He was trying to be supportive to Arthur, he really was, trying to give him all the time that he needed… but it was sometimes so difficult not to become slightly frustrated. He knew that Arthur liked organisation and being in control, so he had backed off and left him to do what he wanted. But after a while, it seemed as though he wasn't actually doing anything. The only thing he had actually done was made sure that both he and Merlin installed fire alarms in their apartments and have an extinguisher and fire blanket handy.

They hadn't really talked about that happened. Merlin left that for the counsellor. He wanted Arthur to go see the counsellor when he was ready. He cared for him so much, he hated that Arthur wasn't doing anything to help himself. He wanted his old Arthur back. His bossy, pratish, pain in his damn arse that brought a smile to his face every day. He barely knew this Arthur anymore, and that made Merlin sad more than anything. He didn't want Arthur to be alone, but he was pushing all of his friends away. He really wanted to tell him this… but he knew that he couldn't, he needed to tell someone else.

Merlin picked up his crutches and grabbed his mobile.

"I need to go the bathroom, Arthur. Can I leave you alone for a couple of minutes?"

"Of course Merlin, I'm not an invalid," Arthur snapped. Merlin frowned and went to the bathroom and found the number he was looking for.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey, Morgana its Merlin."

"_Oh hey Merlin. How are you? How's Arthur doing?"_

"I'm fine, Arthur's not so good. He still hasn't decided when he is going to see the counsellor. He stares at his calendar every single day, like he's trying to trick me into thinking he's going to decide."

"_Yeah, Arthur does that. Like when his mother died, he didn't come out of his room for almost two months. Has he been cleaning stuff?"_

"Um…no."

"_Well, when that starts happening, then we'll know something is wrong."_

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Hang on Morgana," Merlin whispered. "Yes Arthur?"

"Merlin, where do you keep your kitchen cleaners?" 

"Why?"

"Cause I want to wash the dishes."

"Arthur, I have a dishwasher," Merlin said.

"I know, but I want to clean them."

"Shit," Merlin cursed to himself.

"What?"

"Um… they're in the cupboard under the sink."

"Thanks." Merlin waited until the footsteps faded.

"Morgana, Arthur is cleaning my dishes."

"_I told you. Look, what Arthur needs is a push in the right direction. Someone to be straight with him and not take any of his bullshit."_

"I can't do that, you know I'm a sucker and I take everything Arthur throws at me because I know he's going through a tough time."

"_Is he giving you a hard time?"_

"Um…"

"_Merlin, be honest with me."_

"It's not like he's mean on purpose, it's like I'm some friend from school, not his partner. He snaps at me and makes me do things even though I'm on crutches but it doesn't matter. I do it willingly for him. I… I just want Arthur back Morgana." There was silence on the other end of the line.

"_Where are you?"_

"At my apartment."

"_I'm coming over."_

"What? Morgana…"

"_No Merlin listen to me. You shouldn't have to cop all of Arthur's shit just because he is going through a "tough time". OK, you were there too, doesn't he have any sympathy, any heart? He needs someone to put a foot up his arse and tell him where he needs to go because he is so lost right now. I know it sounds like I'm being a bitch Merlin, but I know Arthur, and he can't treat himself and people like shit."_

"Morgana…"

"_I'll be there in ten minutes. Bye."_

"No wait…" Merlin sighed and put his phone in his pocket. He knew Morgana was right, he just hoped she wasn't really cruel to him.

"Hey, Merlin. You fall in or what?" Merlin cursed and flushed the toilet and walked outside to Arthur.

"No, I'm sorry."

"Whatever Merlin. Were you talking to yourself? Trying to encourage yourself along? It's OK Merlin, I won't judge."

"No… I…" He was interrupted by the doorbell.

"I wonder who that is Merlin. I didn't know you had any friends besides me," Arthur chuckled. Merlin forced himself to laugh with him. Yeah Morgana, ten minutes my fucking arse.

Arthur walked over and answered the door.

"Morgana, what are you doing here?" Morgana glared at Arthur.

"We need to talk." The blond raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? About what?"

"Are you going to let me in?"

"No."

"No? What the fuck are you on Arthur, this isn't even your apartment."

"This is Merlin's apartment, so I can tell you go." Morgana put her hands on her hips, and tilted to the side to look at Merlin.

"Merlin, may I come in?"

"Of course you can." Arthur turned around and gaped at Merlin. Morgana smirked and strode confidently past him.

"Like you said Arthur, it is Merlin's apartment." Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Well, what the fuck do you want?" Morgana took no mercy on that statement and slapped Arthur straight across the face. Merlin gasped. Arthur lifted his hand to his face, rubbing at his cheek. He looked up and glared daggers at Morgana when he recovered.

"Why did you do that?"

"Because you were being a dick Arthur. Sit down." Arthur groaned loudly and plonked himself down onto the couch. Merlin took the armchair to the side and lifted his leg onto the coffee table while Morgana sat down next to Arthur.

"So, Arthur tell me, why haven't you seen then the counsellor yet?"

"Because I've been thinking of the right day to go?"

"Yes, by staring at your calendar. Is that how you pick your lottery numbers as well?" Arthur growled.

"And when you're not doing that, what are you doing?"

"Nothing," Arthur said.

"And what are you doing Merlin?" Merlin opened his mouth and then shut it. Morgana waved him off.

"Exactly." Arthur laughed.

"He didn't even say anything."

"That was because I know exactly what he was going to say. He does everything around here Arthur, and he's crippled!"

"Hey!" Merlin said.

"Sorry Merlin, trying to make a point." Merlin nodded. She turned back to Arthur.

"What happened to you? You're not the Arthur I remember."

"You're right," Arthur said, "I'm not. Are you satisfied?"

"No," Morgana said, "Just disappointed." Arthur snorted.

"You know you're starting to sound like my father."

"Good, at least one of us does," Morgana murmured.

"Listen, you think you can just show up here and tell me how to live my life? You don't even know what I've been through!"

"I know Arthur, but I would if you would just tell me. Or someone else. This is not good for you Arthur. What is wrong with you? You have let me help you before, why not now? Why not let Merlin? What has anyone done to you that is so bad, that you have to treat them like shit? I know you are going through a tough time right now, but that is absolutely no excuse to fuck everyone else around to try and make them join you ."

Arthur said nothing. Morgana sighed, touching his hand.

"You need help Arthur. You have people around here who love and care for you. I mean, look at me, and look at Merlin! He has been walking on eggshells for you, trying to give you the space you need to recover, and you treat him like dirt. How dare you? He cares about you so much; he would do anything for you. When was the last time you did something genuine for him Arthur? I can't even imagine how he feels right now. And he still hasn't left you yet. Doesn't that tell you something? He wants to help you so bad, and you just take him for granted."

Arthur looked over at Merlin who was staring at the floor.

"Is it true?" Merlin looked up. "Is everything she said true? Do you really feel that way?" Merlin looked away from Arthur, and hesitantly nodded. Arthur cursed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Did you call her to come here?" Another nod.

"God, Merlin, why didn't you just talk to me?"

"How do you think it feels?" Merlin said suddenly turned back to Arthur, tears in his eyes.

"How do you think it feels when, you have someone, so dear and so precious to you, that you would do anything for… but you can't? How do you think it feels… when everything you do try to do, never seems good enough? How do you think it feels, when you decide to give them some space but watch them self destruct further because I'll tell you now Arthur it feels like shit. Absolute shit." Merlin took a deep breath and wiped a tear from his eye.

"I know we have only been together for just over a month but, you are so important to me. I want to make you feel special, feel that there is someone thinking of you. But when you put in… everything… and get nothing in return, it's not a good feeling Arthur."

Arthur was staring at him with a disappointed expression. Merlin sobbed in his own hands for a couple of seconds before continuing.

"I feel like I don't even matter to you anymore. Like I'm just like everyone else you meet. You are a stranger to me. What happened to the Arthur that made a stupid comment but didn't hurt my feelings? What happened to the Arthur who gave up coffee because he knew that I didn't like them? What happened to the Arthur… that gave me part of his chicken sandwich because I want to be a part of _his _life. And I don't know where he is."

Merlin shook his head and stood up.

"Until I find him… I want you to leave."

"Merlin…"

"No Arthur, no. I will not be treated like a second class citizen. I have gone through this once… I will not do it again. You're bag is on my bed all still packed because you didn't want a mess."

"Merlin please don't do this," Arthur pleaded. Morgana smirked at him; she knew Merlin was doing the right thing.

"Go and get it, and get out of my apartment."

"Mer…"

"No Arthur. Don't come back until you have sorted yourself out. I mean it. This is for the best."

"How is kicking me out for the best Merlin?"

"Arthur," Morgana said standing up, "just get your bag. Merlin's made up his mind." Arthur opened his mouth to speak waving his hands in the air slightly. Then he stormed off in the direction of the bedroom. Morgana turned to Merlin.

"You're doing the right thing."

"I hate this," Merlin said.

"I know you do. But he needs this Merlin. I'll get him to see the counsellor and see sense."

"Where will you take him?"

"To Uther's," Morgana said, "Arthur needs to be with his father. I'll tell Uther to let me stay there for a while." Merlin nodded, running both his hands through his hair. Morgana crouched down beside him.

"He'll come back to us Merlin. He will, you'll see." She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. There was a crash and Arthur stormed out of the bedroom, looking like he was ready to lead an army into a war. He turned to look at Merlin and their eyes met. He wanted Merlin to say something, anything. To change his mind and let him stay. But nothing came.

Merlin watched as Arthur walked with Morgana to the door.

"I'll call Gwen and tell her to come home," Morgana said. All Merlin could do was nod as she walked out the door. Arthur didn't move. He needed to get it through Arthur's head that he needed to leave, needed to go get better.

"Arthur just go now. Get the _fuck_ out of my apartment," Merlin said sternly.

He heard Arthur gasp, but not move. Merlin held his breath and waited for the door to slam, before he hobbled to his bed, and cried until he fell asleep.

* * *

**So there you have it guys. A very angsty chapter. I know some of you will hate me for separating them, but its all part of the story. All will be explained and resolved in due course.**

**And BROWNIE POINTS to anyone who can guess the famous movie I quoted in this chapter.**

**Reviews are love as always. Next chapter should be up in a couple of weeks, sorry guys, exams still going on. :D**

**NOTE: PLEASE VIEW THE POLL ON MY PROFILE TO VOTE ON WHAT _YOU _WANT TO HAPPEN IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. I HAVEN'T STARTED IT YET, SO ITS ENTIRELY UP TO YOU GUYS. POLL WILL CLOSE ON:**

** FRIDAY THE 5th OF NOVEMBER. THANKS SO MUCH!**

**Until next time, **

**xox**

**emiliexox**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey guys! Yes, my exams are officially over and now I can start writing more frequently. Thank you to those who voted in my poll, I will write the chapter and show the results at the bottom of that chapter. **

**I know some people had some different opinions on the last chapter, but where is an interesting story without mistakes and drama? It's called character development. I hope this chapter doesn't cause any more problems.**

**And this chapter is dedicated to **_**Fuzzy Ears Fan**_**, for guessing that the hidden famous quote was from "The Lion King" :D**

**Now, onto the chapter, enjoy! **

**Xox

* * *

**

**Chapter 17**

Merlin rose from his failing attempt at sleep for the third time that night. He didn't know what time it was and he didn't really care. All he cared about was the reason that his cheeks were stained with trails from his eyes, and his muscles ached like he had been constantly beaten. How could he have let Arthur go? The more he thought about it, the more he regretted his decision to make Arthur leave. He just had to constantly try to convince himself that Morgana was right. But he didn't know what was right. As much as he wanted Arthur to come up and hold him and whisper in his ear that it was just a nightmare and that he was still here, he knew it would never happen.

This was reality, and the reality was he had kicked Arthur out of his apartment. Merlin had spent constant hours of the night, thinking about the "what ifs", and the maybes, but he knew none of these would bring Arthur back to him. He couldn't have helped Arthur, not on his own. He had never been strong enough, relationships were the one place that he fell submissive every single time, and every single time those relationships would come to a messy end. Would this one be the same? Would Arthur still feel the same way about him? Would he see that he separated them so he could help him? Merlin sighed, Arthur is probably better off without me anyways…

* * *

Morgana turned the key to the front door and quickly stepped aside as Arthur stampeded through the door and straight up the stairs. He threw his bag into his old room and slammed the door shut like a teenager. He then slid down the door with his face in his hands. What the hell happened back there? How could Merlin do this to me, after everything that we have been through?

"I need him," Arthur whispered to himself as he began to silently sob, "Fuck, I need him so much."

They had only been dating for about a month but he felt like Merlin… was a part of him. A part that had just been forcefully ripped out. No one else understood him; no one gets it, except for Merlin.

Having time to think Arthur could see how Merlin could think that he had been treating him badly. Maybe he's right… maybe Arthur was a bad person. Maybe Arthur didn't deserve to be happy. If he didn't deserve Merlin, he didn't deserve anyone.

Arthur shook his head, he sounded like a teenage girl who had just broken up with her first love. That raw, painful emotion that rips through the body like a knife through a box, revealing everything that you did not want others to see… that emotion…that hurt.

Arthur didn't want to feel like this. He just wanted everything to go back to normal, when he called Merlin a prat, or when he cursed his father for being too cynical and Morgana for being too careless. Maybe if he closed his eyes and pinched himself he would wake up.

"Arthur," a muffled voice came from the other side of the door, "may I come in?"

"I don't want to talk to anyone father," Arthur answered bitterly.

"Arthur you are acting like a child. That was mostly the reason you are here in the first place and not somewhere else I know you really want to be." Arthur was silent.

"Son, please. I don't want to go through this again, just let me speak to you."

Arthur sighed, standing up and opening the door to his father, who was slouching arms crossed, the little hair he had left sticking up in all kinds of directions. He gestured with his hand, allowing his father to slip into the room. Arthur shut the door and walked over to his bed and fell onto it.

They stayed silent for quite some time, the only sound being the steady breathing coming from the two men. Uther, was very patient, waiting for his son to speak to him.

"I fucked up," Arthur said looking at his father.

"I know," Uther replied, "I think we all know what a mess you have made Arthur."

"I didn't… I didn't realise I was doing it. I feel terrible."

"You should feel terrible. All that poor boy did was try to help you. What were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry dad, I really am."

"I'm not the one you should be apologising to Arthur. But you lost your chance to do that since he threw you out of his apartment." Arthur sat up.

"Why would he do that? Did he think it was going to make the situation better?"

"I don't know, but Morgana sure did," Uther said.

"Yeah so I, wait… what?" Uther sighed.

"Before this saga happened… Morgana called Merlin and convinced him to make you leave his apartment."

"What?"

"And Merlin agreed with Morgana that it was the right thing to do." Arthur scoffed.

"Even I agreed Arthur, Merlin knew you were not getting the support you needed while you were there."

"Did anyone ever think that is what I might have needed? A place that I felt secure?"

Uther rolled his eyes, "And what Arthur, you don't even feel that in your own home?"

"This isn't my home anymore," Arthur said.

"Oh bullshit. Merlin wanted you to be somewhere that was going to help you recover. He wants to be with you Arthur, he really does. He was so selfless in letting you come here. He agreed that you weren't getting the right push, and he knew you would get it if you came here especially from Morgana. Please, don't make this harder for him than it already is."

"Oh, and you don't think it's hard for me? I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't even walk near a lamp in fear that it will catch fire. I have not stepped foot in a kitchen for God knows how long because I am scared. I'm scared dad. I don't know what to do. What am I going to do if Merlin is not here to protect me? He's a fireman; he would know what to do. Just like in… 'The incident'. I don't know what to do here. I don't even want to leave this room ever again." Arthur breathed in deeply and pulled his knees up to his chest.

"I don't know what's happening to me." Uther walked over to his son's bed and sat down next to him.

"You need help, Arthur. Professional help. You can't deny that after what you just said." Arthur closed his eyes and Uther bought his head to rest on his shoulder.

"I know."

* * *

Merlin poked his carrot with his fork once again, hoping he could make it suffer a little bit more.

"Merlin, you have to eat something," Gwen said.

"I'm not hungry."

"Stop being so stubborn," said Freya moving in front of him on the counter, "Just because you're hurting emotionally doesn't mean you have to contribute to it physically. Now eat."

Merlin groaned and ate a piece of the carrot he had been trying to murder.

"What am I supposed to do? Arthur's gone and I don't even know how he is."

"You just have to assume the better I suppose," Freya said pouring a cup of tea and handing it to Merlin, "since you're not going to eat anything you might as well have that."

Merlin groaned again and went to sit on his couch.

"It's just that, we haven't been going out that long, is it normal to be so… smitten with someone that you barely even know?"

"What do you mean? You know Arthur," Gwen said, "and you spend a lot of time with him."

"Maybe because your last relationship was a couple of years ago, seeing a relationship starting so good is something you want to cling onto," Freya added.

"Yeah, maybe that's it," Merlin said, "I mean, should I care after the way that he treated me?"

"Well, I guess that's what love does to us and…"

"Whoa, OK, no one said anything about love, I care about him, that's all."

"Are you sure? You wouldn't be so hurt if it you just cared about him."

Merlin sobbed.

"I can't fall in love again Gwen… it's too soon."

"Merlin, it's been two years, you need to move on."

"No, never."

"Merlin," Freya said, "Are you in control of your life?"

"I…no not really."

"Well you need to change that. Here," she pulled a card out of her pocket. "This is a guy that I know from way back. He's a counsellor moving closer to a shrink, he might be able to help you with your life right now." Merlin nodded.

"I've never been such a wreck."

"You should go to him tomorrow; I already made an appointment for three."

"Um…"

"I'm your sister, I just know." Merlin smiled and Freya rubbed his back.

"Yeah, OK I'll go."

* * *

"Thank you Arthur, I hope next week we can make some further progress on what we spoke about today." Arthur just nodded.

"Thanks Doc," Uther said leaving the office dragging Arthur along with him.

"You see Arthur, that wasn't so bad."

"Yeah if I had a mental disease."

"Arthur, Post Traumatic Stress is very serious. You shouldn't joke about your sessions."

"I'm not joking around, I just don't want to be here," Arthur mumbled scratching his head.

"Now remember what we spoke about yesterday Arthur. The world needs you, your family needs you and Merlin needs you. We want you back Arthur, and we'll get you back, you'll see."

"Yeah I'll see," Arthur said, "That was scary though."

"I know it was and I thought you were going to run out of there at one point. Tell me, what kept you there?"

Arthur looked up to answer, but his eyes went wide when he saw a familiar face coming in the direction of the office.

"Him."

Uther turned to see Merlin on his crutches, Morgana's friend Gwen and a woman that looked like Merlin coming towards them. When Merlin saw them, he stopped dead in his tracks, and stared. Uther turned to Arthur who was staring at Merlin with such compassion and such want, it looked like he wanted to run over to him and hold him in his arms.

Merlin took a deep breath and walked over to the two men.

"Hi Mr Pendragon, Arthur."

"Hello my boy, how are you?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"Very well, Arthur just saw the counsellor we were recommended to when he was released from hospital." Merlin turned to Arthur.

"Arthur, is this true?"

Arthur looked down and nodded.

"Well, I'm glad."

There was an awkward silence between the five of them.

"Well, um… I'm late for an appointment so…"

"You're seeing the counsellor?" Arthur asked. Merlin went to nod but was cut off by his sister.

"I don't believe it's any of your business anymore," Freya said sharply.

"Freya, no."

"No Merlin, he needs to hear this. No disrespects to you Sir, but Arthur you have caused my brother a lot of hurt. All he tried to do was help you. I don't understand how you could be such a prick to him."

"Please stop, Freya. You've done enough now."

"She's right Merlin," Arthur said, "I was an ass. I shouldn't have treated you like that."

"I know," Merlin said, "But it's behind us now, and we have to move on." Merlin hobbled up to Arthur, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Bye." And Merlin walked off towards the counsellor's office, followed by the two girls. Arthur stood there watching them go, wishing he could say something, anything to make him come back.

"C'mon Arthur, let's go." Arthur allowed himself to be pulled from the clinic.

* * *

Merlin lay alone in his house curled up into a ball in his bed since Gwen had gone to stay with Morgana for the night. He couldn't stop thinking about the session that he had today. The man was very smart, full of initiative and agreed to help Merlin through his problems. He just wished that he hadn't seen Arthur. He looked so run down and sad, but he was so proud of him for taking the next step and going to see someone. He wanted to tell him that, but he didn't.

He let his thoughts drift him almost to sleep when suddenly there was a large banging on the door.

Merlin hurried out of bed, grabbing his crutches and hopping to answer it.

When he did, he was absolutely shocked at what he saw. There, half kneeling on the ground was Arthur. He was swaying from side to side and his eyes looked a little dazed. He looked up at Merlin.

"Ah, hey Merrrlin. Can I coming in?" Merlin gasped.

"Arthur, you're pissed."

"I…am nnnot!" The blonde man slurred. He got up off the ground and grabbed the door frame for support.

"Merrrrrlin, I'm going to come in noww."

"No Arthur, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Naw, why not?"

"Because you are drunk Arthur, and I am not letting you in here." Arthur groaned and pushed Merlin aside, knocking him to the floor. Arthur gasped and tripped over Merlin, falling down next to him. Merlin cursed as he tried to get up, but Arthur just stayed on the floor and started to giggle hysterically.

"We fell on the floor Merlin, did you see that?"

"Yes, Arthur I saw it, now you have to get out of my apartment."

"No, wait Merrlin. I have a q-q-question for you. OK, a question." Merlin sighed.

"What is it Arthur."

"Why don't you like me anymore?"

"Arthur…"

"I mean, I am I just like some fucking piece of shit to you cause that is just not cool OK. Not cool."

"Arthur what are you…"

"I still care about you Merlin. I really do." Arthur rolled over and pulled Merlin back down and put his lips to Merlin's.

Merlin gasped in shock when Arthur kissed him. He tasted of beer, lots of it, and Merlin resisted the urge to vomit. He tried to push him off, but had little success. He would just have to wait for Arthur to stop.

Arthur pulled off him with a loud pop and smiled down at him.

"You seeeeee, that was really nice."

"Arthur, you're drunk you don't know what you are doing."

"Surrrrre I do Merrrrrlin. I want you back. I'm so so so so so sorry. I was a… a bitch to you." Merlin rolled his eyes.

"And… and when I saw you today, I felt… so so upset and I just wanted to hold you. I can't function without you Merlin." Merlin said nothing.

"Please…. Let me stay with you." Merlin groaned.

"All right, just for tonight, but you are sleeping in Gwen's bed."

"Awww, why?"

"Do you want to stay?"

"OK, I'll stay there. There I'll stay."

Merlin pulled himself up and pushed Arthur towards Gwen's room. After throwing him inside and shutting the door, he went back to his own room. Making sure he locked his own door and put a chair in front of it, Merlin drifted back to sleep, wondering what tomorrow would bring. He closed his eyes, listening to the faint sounds of his name coming from the next room.

* * *

**OK, there you go guys. I put some of the stuff in there from the poll.**

**Those results were:**

**Arthur gets drunk and goes to see Merlin: 42%**

**Arthur goes to see the counsellor: 15%**

**Morgana and Arthur have a fight: 10%**

**Merlin and Freya family scene: 10%**

**Merlin sees counsellor for advice: 10%**

**Arthur breaks something: 5%**

**Some Lance and Valiant bonding: 5%**

**Thanks to those who took the time to vote.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed that.**

**Next chapter: What happened in the counselling sessions, and the aftermath of the drunken encounter.**

**PLEASE REVIEW. REVIEWS ARE LOVE :D**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	18. Chapter 18

**HEY! I'm so sorry that I haven't updates sooner, I've actually been on holidays and I didn't take my laptop so I wasn't able to update. I would like to thank you for all the reviews for the last chapter. Hopefully this one will be alright as well. **

**Now as a side note, it is now that the story begins to come together, very slowly, but it still starts to come together. Don't worry, Arthur and Merlin will not be apart for much longer, although a lot of people enjoyed drunk Arthur :P**

**Anyways, this chapter is dedicated to: **_**LadyFromPoland, **_**thank you so much for your reviews and I will personally hug Arthur for you :D**

**So enough from me here, hope you enjoy the chapter xox

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**

**Chapter 18**

"_I cannot believe that you talked me into this father."_

"_Ha, more like dragged you kicking and screaming Arthur. Stop complaining, we talked about this," Uther said. Arthur sighed._

"_I know we did. I'm sorry. I'm just really not comfortable with this." Uther stopped._

"_I understand why you are not comfortable Arthur, but you need to be strong."_

_Arthur nodded. _

"_For him."

* * *

_

"_Hello Arthur, my name is Dr Merica but you may call be Bayard. And I assume this is your father?" Arthur looked at the strange man. He was quite tall, about a head taller than himself, with grey wispy hair and a small beard. He wore round glasses around his large green, wrinkly eyes that almost hid the rest of his relatively small face. If Arthur was not so secretly scared of the man, he would have laughed._

"_You are correct. I'm Uther." The two men shook hands. "Pleasure to meet you, sir."_

"_Likewise. Now why don't you take a seat and we can start. Ah, not you Uther, I would like the session to start with Arthur alone. I hope that's alright."_

_Uther looked over to Arthur who he could see had slightly tensed._

"_Certainly, I'll be right outside." Arthur turned to him._

"_Dad, you said you wouldn't leave me. Please don't go."_

"_Arthur, be reasonable, the doctor said…"_

"_I don't care what the doctor fucking said; I don't want to be alone with a stranger!"_

"_If this is making you uncomfortable," Bayard started._

"_No." "Yes." Uther stood up._

"_Arthur have some courage. I'll be right out there. It'll be OK."_

"_Please… please," Arthur held onto his father's hand tightly, begging him not to leave._

"_If you like Arthur, you may hold my mini fire extinguisher while we talk." Arthur looked over to Bayard who was holding out a small extinguisher to him. He looked between his father and the doctor before slowly reaching out to take it, clutching it tightly to his chest. He carefully moved back to his seat, not taking his eyes off the supposed threat._

"_I will just let your father out then if that is alright Arthur." Arthur nodded slightly and Dr Merica led Uther towards the exit, but stopped him. He leaned in to whisper to him._

"_Stay here, do not make a sound, this information you are about to hear may be important."_

"_How did you know giving him that would work?"_

"_Arthur needs a sense of security in relation to the subject of his stress to be able to talk about it openly with someone like me. It works on most of my PTS patients. He'll be fine Uther. So be silent, and listen to your son."_

_Uther nodded and Bayard opened the door, then waited and then closed it, walked back to Arthur. He sat down in the chair opposite him. Arthur smirked._

"_Would you like to say something?"_

"_Isn't this supposed to be the bit where you get me to lie down on some retarded looking sofa and cry about all my problems to you? Because I am telling you that is never going to happen." Bayard laughed._

"_Ah, the wonders of the media. No, this first session will be about comfort and familiarisation, a kind of… informal session if you please."_

"_So… we're just going to talk about random stuff?"_

"_Pretty much." Arthur shook his head. Bayard leaned forward, making a mental note as Arthur moved one hand slowly towards the release of his weapon._

"_So Arthur, you are an arson detective, do you like doing that?"_

"_I am one of the best in the field so…"_

"_I asked you if you liked it, not to comment on the status of yourself in your occupation." Arthur raised his eyebrows._

"_Well… of course I like it. It's exciting, analytical and I get to put criminals in jail. It's a very rewarding career… when I'm actually doing it."_

"_Why did you choose to do it?"_

"_I don't know, I guess it was because of my father." Uther became intrigued._

"_I always looked up to him. He put the bad guys away and kept peace from… fire's… destructive…ways…" Arthur gulped and looked away. Bayard sighed._

"_How are you… really Arthur?" Arthur sighed._

"_I'm scared. I know that it's expected after what happened but… I really don't want to be. I've hurt people, Bayard. Not physically exactly but emotionally. My family, my friends…Merlin…"_

"_Merlin? Who's Merlin?" Arthur snapped his head up at him._

"_Oh, he's… um… someone who I'm been involved with…"_

"_So he's your boyfriend or partner?" Arthur nodded._

"_Well, more like half ex boyfriend actually." Bayard hummed._

"_And why is that?"_

"_Because I let all of this shit get to me. I was… pushing him away and I didn't even see it. He was mostly the reason I came here."_

"_How long have you been seeing him?"_

"_Just over a month."_

"_And you care for him?"_

"_Very much." Bayard smiled._

"_I'm happy for you Arthur, I really am." _

"_Thank you," Arthur said._

"_And I have to ask, this Merlin… was he there when the "incident" occurred?" Arthur bit his lip and nodded._

"_I see."_

"_He was the one who figured it out. He took control… told me everything was going to be alright. He saved my life. I never actually thanked him for that. I've been terrible to him, and to all of my friends and family. I suck to be around; everyone should stay away from me." He was shaking at this point, his anxiety and fear, on the boarder line of spiralling out of control._

_Bayard shook his head._

"_You do not suck to be around Arthur. You are a very good person, who has just been through some, well… pretty intense shit." Arthur smiled for the first time._

"_If you want to get over this, you are going to have to be the one to remind yourself of that. You have to stand up for yourself to yourself. Maybe even talk to some of your friends. Maybe even talk to Merlin."_

"_I don't think I'm going to talk to Merlin. He would never forgive me."_

"_Oh I think he will, he seems like the type of person to stick it out. You'll see." Arthur said nothing._

"_I'll see you in a couple of days, yes?" _

"_Um… yeah I think so. Thank you."_

"_Wonderful to meet you Arthur, and remember, be strong."_

Arthur stirred in his sleep, "strong…"

* * *

_Well, seeing Arthur right before the session was pretty much icing on the cake of a shit day for Merlin. He was starting to finally convince himself that he had done the right thing, but seeing… seeing Arthur there, looking so vulnerable and lonely… Oh God. He was really happy that Arthur had finally gone and seen the counsellor, but also disappointed that he was not strong enough to push him to go._

"_Ah, and you must be Merlin," a voice interrupted his thoughts. Merlin looked up to see an older man who to him kind of resembled Santa. He seemed like a nice man._

"_Hi, are you Dr Merica?" The old man smiled._

"_Indeed I am young man, would you like to come in? Be careful with your crutches there." Merlin edged slowly through the doorway._

"_I usually don't like people sitting on the long couch, but seeing as your condition might demand more comfort than a mere chair, you may use it if you wish."_

"_Um… yeah thank you, I might just do that," Merlin replied, moving towards the couch and taking a seat on it. Dr Merica moved a chair over towards him and sat down._

"_So, young Merlin, do you want to tell me why you have decided to come here today?"_

"_Well," Merlin started, "I've been having trouble… controlling my own life these past couple of weeks."_

"_I see, do you feel there is anything that has happened in the past couple of weeks that could have… trigged this lack of self-confidence?" Merlin sighed and rubbed his eyes._

"_Well, my…boyfriend and I were in this fire a couple of weeks back. It's where I broke my ankle. I was alright after being in the fire because it's my job but… Arthur he, hasn't been the same. I haven't been able to be the same around him anymore. He's changed and I miss him very much. I feel like I should be able to help him, take charge you know. But I can't." Dr Merica rubbed his beard._

"_Is this the…only relationship you have not been able to take charge in?"_

"_I, um…no it's not," Merlin finally confessed. He looked away._

"_We do not have to discuss it if you don't want to," Dr Merica insisted._

"_No, it's alright, I need to do it." He took a deep breathe._

"_A couple of years ago, I met a man whose name was Will. He and I became great friends, we literally became inseparable. I have never had a better connection to anyone. Then one day he asked me out and I just couldn't say no. He was smart, funny and very attractive. We went out for a while, almost a year, and… then he asked me to marry him. I was so flattered, I never thought anyone would want to marry me; I was hardly ever at home with such a demanding job. But he asked and I said yes. I had never felt so happy. We moved in together a short time later, and he became… pushy with me to have sex. I don't know why he did. When I asked him why, finally a week before the wedding, he said… that he wanted to be sure that he wanted me, like he had to test me out before we were married. Who does that? I said flat out no, and that I wasn't ready to do that yet. Then… he got furious and tried to force me to do it. I fought him and eventually got away. I didn't break up with him, because… I was still in love with him. He beat me to it, breaking my heart the night before the wedding, saying that he couldn't be with a man who wasn't attracted to him. I insisted that I was, begging him not to leave me. He yelled at me, saying he wasn't in love with me enough to marry me. I ran, I didn't know where the hell I was going. I ended up at some bar, catching my ex-fiancée chatting up some younger woman. I was heartbroken. I had never felt so alone. Will kept calling me after that, insisting that he wanted me, but I kept refusing him. He began to get frustrated and swore that he would have me, but I haven't seen him since that day."_

"_And do you feel that he is the reason you are scared to fall in love again?"_

"_Hey no one said…maybe, I don't know." The older man hummed curiously._

"_Maybe you feel that if you take control of your relationships, they might actually succeed. This… Arthur, do you care about him?"_

"_Of course I care about him."_

"_And do you think you have a future with him?"_

"_I never thought about it. But I would like to."_

"_But you are still scared." Merlin nodded._

"_I don't know what to do."_

"_Firstly you should think about what you really want, then perhaps we can start to look into what control Will has over your life. Only then, once we have conquered these issues, can we start to help you become more confident and in control."_

"_Thank you," Merlin said._

"_Now, off you go. Good luck and I shall see you in a few days."_

* * *

Merlin woke up after a relatively good night's sleep. He had really enjoyed talking to Dr Merica about his problems with Will and Arthur. Arthur… Memories of the previous night came back to him. Why had Arthur shown up drunk to his apartment? Oh God, he really hoped that he had left already. He really didn't want to deal with this right now. He grabbed his crutches and walked outside into the kitchen. He looked over to the couch and sighed. Sitting there was Arthur, asleep curled up with a pillow. Merlin suddenly felt bad about wishing he wasn't there. He knew he was probably going to wake up wit the worst headache in the world, so he made him some tea and set it down in front of him. Then he sat down and waited for him to wake up.

Arthur awoke only a couple of minutes later, rubbing his eyes and looking around as though he was trying to remember why he was there. He looked up to see Merlin sitting across from him. He suddenly remembered what a fool he had made of himself and quickly got up to make a run for it, but pain shot from his head and he was forced to sit down again.

"Drink the tea," he heard Merlin say. He nodded and took a sip and hummed. He didn't put in any sugar… he remembered.

"I'm really sorry Merlin," Arthur said.

"It's fine Arthur."

"No it's not fine. I completely embarrassed myself and almost violated you. I… I need to go." Arthur walked towards the door but was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"You should have a shower before you leave," Merlin said, "No offence, but you smell like shit."

"Um… yeah. Thanks."

Merlin waited until Arthur was done, but when he came out, he walked straight towards the door.

"Arthur, don't go. We… we need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about, I'm not welcome in your apartment. You made that clear the last time I was here."

"I was trying to help you!"

"By kicking me out? You knew how much I needed you."

"Arthur listen to me, it's in the past now and I don't regret what I did," Merlin said.

Arthur slowly sat down onto the couch next to Merlin.

"You don't regret it?"

"Well, I saw you at the counsellor yesterday didn't I?" Arthur nodded.

"So, I obviously did something right. You weren't doing any better here Arthur; surely you would have seen that." Arthur said nothing.

"But that still doesn't explain why you showed up pissed at my apartment."

"I don't want to talk about it," Arthur said.

"Arthur, please."

"No Merlin, I've had enough of people telling me to open up. What I am feeling is my business, no one else's."

"Arthur, it's not healthy to keep things bottled up. I mean, look where that got you."

"I know it's just… I really miss you Merlin. No one's ever got me like you do. I'm really sorry that we aren't together anymore." Arthur gasped when Merlin took his hand.

"Who said that we're not together anymore?" He asked.

"You did," Arthur said standing up, slipping his hand out of the embrace.

"No Arthur wait," Merlin said grabbing his crutches.

"You made it very clear that you don't want to see me again."

"I only said that to help you Arthur. It was so hard for me. Damn it, you have no idea how much I care about you." Arthur turned around so he was almost chest-to-chest with Merlin.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Arthur said, "I'll just go."

"No!" Merlin needed to do something. Take control. He balanced himself on his crutches and grabbed Arthur's shirt with both hands and pulled him towards him. Arthur gasped as Merlin pushed their lips together in a passionate kiss. Oh, how he had missed the feeling of Merlin's lips on his. Arthur grabbed Merlin by the hips and pulled him flush against him, letting his crutches drop to the floor. Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur's neck, opening his mouth to allow Arthur's tongue entrance. He was almost overtaken by euphoria. Eventually, he pulled away from Arthur and went to take a step back, but fell over when he realised his crutches weren't there. Arthur was just in time to catch him, leading them both safely onto the floor. Once they had stopped giggling Arthur spoke, his faces inches from Merlin's, and his eyes intense.

"From now on, we got each other's backs, OK?"

"OK," Merlin said smiling, pulling Arthur down to kissing him once again.

* * *

**YAY! They are back together… for now. Their relationship will still be delicate for a while, but they are still together.**

**Like I said at the top, from here it will start to get interesting and come together. If you think you have figured something out, Please do NOT send it in a review, send me a PM. Also if you would like a specific funny word or something to happen, send me a PM too :P**

**But still PLEASE REVIEW :D**

**Next chapter should be coming very soon.**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	19. Chapter 19

**HEY GUYS! Hope you are all doing well. I know a lot of you were happy that Arthur and Merlin were back together, I am too :D I just couldn't keep them apart for too long, they are so wonderful together. And thanks for all the reviews last chapter, as well as the guess from **_**figgyfan14.**_

**Well, anyways on with the chapter, enjoy xox**

**P.S. This chapter contains a little slash at the end :P

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**

**Chapter 19**

"Congratulations, Merlin. I am very pleased that you are starting to take control in your relationship."

"Thank you Dr. Merica," Merlin said smiling. It had been two weeks since Merlin had kissed Arthur in his apartment and now things were almost back to normal. Arthur had stayed at his father's house by his own request, insisting that he come and see Merlin at least once a day.

"Arthur, do you like that Merlin is starting to take charge?"

"I am really proud that he was able to share his concerns with me about his life, and I'm glad that he is finally starting to get past them. I hope that I can help him in any way that I can," Arthur said calmly.

"But Arthur, you don't have to go all submissive on me. I can still handle being told, unlike some."

"Merlin, don't make me hit you."

"Hey, there will be no hitting in my session room Mr Pendragon," Dr Merica said sternly with a smile on his face. These two really acted like children sometimes.

"Alright, but he knows he deserves it."

"I do not!"

"OK, I think that's enough on that topic. Now Arthur, how are you going with your 'increasing exposure' exercises?"

"Um… alright."

"Are you kidding? Yesterday, he turned a lamp on without flinching once," Merlin said.

"How is switching on a lamp an amazing achievement?" Arthur said bewildered.

"Young Merlin is right, Arthur. For you to willingly turn on a lamp without any sort of fear is wonderful progress. Before last week, you wouldn't even sit near one without a fire extinguisher."

"Yeah, Arthur," Merlin said rubbing his shoulder, "You should be proud. Stop beating yourself up. I know this may not mean much, but you've come a long way in only two weeks." Arthur smiled. He knew Merlin was only trying to make him feel better.

Arthur found out about a lot of things after that kiss a couple of weeks before. Merlin told him about his childhood, and how he decided he was going to be a fire fighter. Arthur had surprisingly found out, after much persuasion, that the reason that Merlin wanted to be a fire fighter was that when he was 16, he lost his own father in a fire. He had been both sad and shocked. He didn't know why Merlin had not told him. Merlin insisted that he didn't know his father very well, as he has walked out on Merlin and his mother when he was only three. But Merlin still felt a sort of loss when he died; something that he knew was much greater for those who lost their loved ones. So he decided that he would work to prevent that heart ache and pain as much as he could, and becoming a fireman seemed like the perfect job. Plus, it had the thrill of adventure, Merlin had insisted, which ended up in them having a small argument. Arthur soon calmed down and insisted he say more, but Merlin had already declared the conversation dead.

After that, the next conversation was about Merlin's ex, Will. When Arthur heard about all the things that he did to him, he became very angry. Merlin did not deserve to be treated like that, by anyone. Arthur told him that he would never push him into anything that he didn't want to do. It also made him regret how he had treated Merlin only days before that, promising him that he would never treat him like that again. Merlin deserved more than that, more than him. Merlin cared more about him than any other person Arthur had ever been involved with, and that made Arthur want to keep him around, for a very long time.

"Arthur… Arthur?" Arthur snapped out of his thought haze and looked up.

"I'm sorry what?"

"I asked if there was anything else you wanted to talk about today."

"Oh um… nothing that I can think of. Merlin?" Merlin shook his head.

"Very well, you two can come back on the weekend then. I will be here. Then if that session goes well, then maybe we can discuss you going back to work." Arthur's eyes lit up.

"Great. So, Saturday?" Dr Merica nodded.

"See you then. Merlin will be accompanying you?"

"Yes I will, if that's OK," Merlin replied.

"It is always OK my friend. Have a pleasant week."

* * *

Arthur opened the door to Merlin's apartment, letting him hobble through with considerable ease. He had to hand it to the raven haired man; he hadn't fallen down in almost four days. He shut the door and heard a yelp, turning around to see Merlin sprawled out on the floor. Well… four days it is. Arthur laughed and helped his boyfriend up.

"I'm fine, it's OK," Merlin said, "and you don't have to laugh at me every time you know."

"Naw, but it's funny," Arthur said.

"Yeah, yeah I know it's funny."

"It's just not funny when it happens to you," Arthur continued. Merlin smiled and went to kiss him, but ending up lightly slapping his face.

"Exactly."

Merlin hobbled over to the kitchen but Arthur ran over.

"Here, let me do that. You just fell over." Merlin raised his eyebrows.

"Don't look me like that; I'm helping, now go sit down. I got this." Merlin walked over and fell on the couch.

"So, how did you find therapy today?" Merlin asked. Arthur groaned.

"God, I hate it when you call it that. But, to be fair that's what it is so I'm not going to start an argument. Anyway, Bayard thinks you have made good progress."

"I'm glad that he does. But I think that I should be the one to make that judgement, don't you think?" Arthur bought two hot chocolates over.

"I couldn't agree more," he said, "progress should be a self-evaluation."

"For those who are willing to make it justly," Merlin said looking at Arthur. The blond shrugged his shoulders.

"Why did you think what you have done isn't a major thing?"

"I don't know, it sounds really stupid to be scared of a lamp, or a fire place," Arthur said, "Maybe I'm just being too hard on myself."

"Like you always are," Merlin said. "You are a very brave person Arthur, and don't you dare let anyone tell you otherwise." Arthur smiled.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

They sat on the couch drinking their hot chocolates in silence, stealing glances at one another now and then.

"So…" Merlin started. Arthur set down his drink and sighed.

"What is it Merlin?" Merlin grinned wickedly.

"You like that I'm taking charge. I never thought you were the type who would like to be dominated Arthur." Arthur blushed furiously.

"Maybe… I don't know." Merlin licked his lips setting down his mug.

"Well…why don't we test it out?"

Before Arthur could protest, Merlin had kissed him hard. Arthur swallowed anything he was going to say and wrapped his arms around Merlin's waist, pulling him closer. Merlin's hands were running all over Arthur's chest through his t-shirt, lightly running across his nipples making Arthur moan softly. Merlin moved his lips to Arthur's neck, licking and sucking at the exposed skin.

"Merlin…" Arthur breathed, "do you… do you want to take my shirt off?"

Merlin froze and looked into Arthur's eyes, his own flicking with slight fear.

"It's OK if you don't want to."

"No," Merlin said, "I… I want to." Arthur frowned.

"That's not very convincing Merlin-" Before Arthur could finish his sentence, his shirt was being pulled off over his head. Arthur looked up at Merlin, whose eyes were furiously racking up and down his naked torso.

"Like what you see?" All Merlin could do was dumbly nod.

Arthur pulled Merlin down and kissed him slowly, bringing one of Merlin's hands onto his chest, letting Merlin thread his fingers though the light chest hair. He moaned softly as Merlin gently caressed him.

"Please, Merlin… stop teasing me," he said after a while. He felt Merlin stiffen a little and looked up, only to see Merlin slowly take in his left nipple. Arthur bit his lip and threw his head back, groaning loudly as he felt Merlin's tongue swipe around the skin on his chest. Merlin lifted his head up.

"Is… is that alright?"

"Don't stop, please," Arthur almost yelled and he saw a small smile appear on Merlin's face, before he continued what he was doing. Arthur knew that Merlin was really nervous and that he would stop if things got too far, but he didn't want him to be uncomfortable with anything that he was doing.

"Are you OK?" Arthur cursed as he felt Merlin hum around him.

Merlin loved the sounds that Arthur was making. Sure, they had kissed and he would moan, but now they were so… raw. Almost animalistic… and that turned Merlin on- a lot. He was really scared when he decided that he would remove Arthur's shirt and do this, but he was slowly becoming more comfortable with the situation. He was no where near going all the way and Arthur seemed to be enjoying himself at the present, but Merlin decided it was not enough. Arthur was still with him, even though he knew Merlin would not have sex with him for a while. So, he decided he would… reward Arthur a little.

He moved one hand to Arthur's shoulder, slowly caressing the muscles on his arm, the other slowly making its way downwards. Arthur's breath hitched as Merlin's hand got closer to the waistband of his pants.

"Merlin… what are you doing?"

Merlin bought his head up and kissed Arthur, pushing his tongue in between Arthur's lips. Arthur growled and began to kiss back fiercely, grabbing Merlin's head and pulling him closer. The whole time he didn't notice that Merlin had unbuttoned his pants. Merlin placed his hand over Arthur's cock, which was hard against his black boxers.

"Oh fuck, Merlin!" Arthur yelled. Merlin smiled and continued what he was doing.

"Oh God, what you do to me." Merlin's thumb ran over the head of Arthur's cock and Merlin heard a whimper escape him. His lips reattached themselves to Arthur's neck, sucking on the skin between the neck and shoulder, while simultaneously stroking him faster.

"Shit! Faster, Merlin. Please!"

Merlin gave Arthur one more fast stroke and Arthur screamed, coming to his orgasm. Merlin bit down hard on his shoulder while he rode it out, Arthur's nails digging slightly into his back.

Arthur slumped back onto the couch, breathing hard. Merlin rested his head on Arthur's chest, listening to his gradually slowing heartbeat, while Arthur ran his hand through Merlin's dark hair.

"You made me come in my pants," was the first thing Arthur said, causing Merlin to laugh.

"So it was… OK?"

"Are you kidding? It was fantastic." Merlin smiled and Arthur realised that Merlin didn't finish.

"Merlin, do you want me…to um…" Merlin shook his head.

"Its fine, this one was for you. That was tiring anyway, it's probably almost gone by now." Arthur shook his head.

"You didn't have to go that far if you weren't comfortable," he said.

"I know. But I just wanted to thank you, for sticking with me even though I… you know, won't 'do the deed' for a while."

"You shouldn't have to be thanking me Merlin. Giving someone pleasure is supposed to be from feeling, not for favour." Merlin curled up slightly.

"I'm sorry." Arthur stroked his back.

"Don't be, it was wonderful."

"Really?"

"Yes, why do you keep asking me that? Do you think I'm lying?"

"I just wanted to be sure you weren't just reacting that way to make me feel better."

"Merlin, trust me, even I cannot act that well. Even if I could, what you were doing was far too distracting." Now it was Merlin's turn to blush.

"And besides, you found a new sensitive spot for me," Arthur said smiling. Merlin kissed him.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Did you?" Arthur asked. Merlin nodded.

"The things that come out of your mouth…" He laughed and pulled Merlin close to him.

"Is that as far as you want to go for now?" Merlin looked at him worried.

"Is that OK?"

"It's fine. I would never push you into anything you don't want to do," Arthur said.

"Thank you."

"It's my pleasure. No pun intended." Merlin slapped his chest, and Arthur smiled.

They lay there like that for a while, Arthur moving slightly so Merlin could get comfortable with his leg, which had been hanging off the side of the couch. Merlin's head was tucked under Arthur's chin, slowly moving his hand up and down the side of his tanned chest.

"Merlin… Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"It's a tad personal."

"Oh." Arthur bit his lip. By the sounds of it, Merlin didn't like personal questions.

"Why don't I just ask and then you can choose whether to answer or not."

"OK."

Arthur took a deep breath; he didn't want to offend Merlin, or invade his privacy.

"Is there a reason… that you're afraid of being intimate? I mean like, not just with me, but with anyone."

Merlin was silent for a while, and Arthur thought that he wasn't going to answer him, but then he heard a tiny squeak come out of his mouth.

"I just don't like the thought of not having control over my body." Arthur was confused.

"What do you mean? The point of being intimate is going with what you feel."

"No, that's not what I mean. I mean like… if I let someone- do that with me, I'm afraid that if I'm not comfortable…"

"They won't stop when you ask," Arthur finished. Merlin nodded.

"I know it's stupid."

"No it's not stupid. You have every right to be afraid."

"People lose themselves when feeling pleasure sometimes. I just… don't want to get hurt."

Arthur lifted Merlin's chin up.

"You are not going to get hurt. I am going to protect you OK?"

"You don't have to protect me Arthur," Merlin said.

"I know. But I want to. You don't have to be scared anymore Merlin. You're going to be alright."

Merlin nodded smiled and kissed Arthur gently.

"No one has ever said that to me before. They always tell me I'm over reacting. Thank you for understanding."

"You're welcome Merlin," Arthur said kissing his forehead.

"Since when have you become so understanding?" Merlin asked.

"Since someone made me come like a madman, and now my head is all fuzzy. So don't get used to it." Merlin smiled.

"But I meant what I said Merlin. You don't have to be scared with me." Merlin settled his head back onto Arthur's chest.

"I know," he whispered, "I'm not."

* * *

**WOOT! There you go guys. Some slashy goodness! I hope you enjoyed that guys. It was a bit shorter than normal, I hope that's alright.**

**REVIEW PLEASE! And I shall give more slash goodness!**

**Next chapter should be up soon. Thanks for reading :D**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey guys! Hope you are all doing well. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews last chapter. Really makes me a happy girl :D**

**Anyways, on with the story. Wow, already up to the big chapter 20. I know it might be moving a bit fast and some time skipped, but I really want Merlin and Arthur's relationship, among other things to progress… this is an M fic after all :P**

**This chapter is dedicated to **_**momentshaveyou**_** for all your wonderful reviews.**

**Enjoy xox

* * *

**

**Chapter 20**

Lance walked down the hallway of C.B.I, carrying a large bundle of papers in his hand. God, this is Morgana's job, not mine. Stupid bitch, he thought shaking his head, makes me do all the work because she doesn't like wearing out her new heels. Well I got some advice for you, don't wear them to work! He turned the corner towards Arthur's office, the door that hadn't been open for just under three months. He missed the big man sometimes even though he bossed him around. He walked into Arthur's office and turned on the light, placing the papers in a messy pile on a desk to the side.

"You know those don't go there." Lance groaned.

"Yeah sure Arthur I'll wait… Arthur?"

Lance turned to the desk and sure enough, Arthur was sitting there, writing notes and typing things into his computer. He looked up.

"What?" Lance smiled.

"You're back."

"I thought that was obvious," Arthur said, "and you still don't know how to knock."

"When did you get back?"

"About half an hour before you walked in here. I have so much work to do; you guys can't do anything without me." Lance rolled his eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?"

"Because he wanted it to be a surprise," Merlin said walking slowly through the door, only one crutch in hand.

"I did not. I don't _do _surprises," Arthur said turning back to his computer.

"Yeah, whatever you say Arthur," Merlin said smiling. He turned to Lance.

"How are you, man? I haven't seen you in ages."

"Good, good. Sorry about that by the way you guys. With both you and Sir gone for a while, I had to hold things up here, so I couldn't come and visit. I always asked Morgana and Sir how you were when I saw them, but I hardly had any spare time and didn't want to intrude if I wasn't welcome."

"What are you talking about idiot?" Arthur snapped.

"I think what Arthur is trying to say," Merlin said glaring at Arthur, "is that you are our friend and are always welcome with us."

"Yes," Arthur said waving a hand in the air, "what he said." Lance smiled.

"Good to see some things haven't changed," Lance said. Merlin nodded in agreement. Arthur smirked.

"So, is there anything else you needed Lance?"

"Um… I don't think so. I just bought you all the files from the three fires you missed. Whoever this guy is, he's not backing down."

"Maybe with Arthur back, he might get scared off," Merlin said.

"Well, Arthur is the best."

"I know I am," Arthur said, "now if that is all then please leave. You have other things to do I'm sure."

"Sure dude," Lance said.

"Don't call me dude."

"Alright, sorry boss. I'll come back later."

"Yeah," Arthur said.

"See you. C'mon Merlin," Lance said.

"Actually no. Merlin stay, there is something I need to speak to you about."

"Um… OK then." He turned to Lance. "Lance, if I'm not out in the next hour…"

"Merlin!"

"I'm kidding, Arthur. Don't have a dragon."

"I'll leave you guys to it," Lance said smiling closing the door behind him.

Arthur sighed as he heard it click, pushing away from his computer.

"Finally he's gone."

"Now Arthur, what is it that you wanted to see me about?" Merlin said, slowly walking up to the desk.

"Oh, I can think of a lot of things," Arthur said licking his lips, "but unfortunately, not many of them involve actually talking." Merlin smiled.

"I guess we will just have to use our lips some other way then." Arthur wrapped his hand around Merlin's waist.

"I think I know one," he said connecting his lips with Merlin's. Merlin smiled, wrapping his arms around Arthur's neck, tangling his fingers into Arthur's gorgeous hair. Arthur pulled away and smiling, swivelled Merlin around and sat him on the desk, throwing Merlin's crutch aside. Merlin parted his legs so Arthur could stand between them, before claiming his lips once more.

Merlin knew that Arthur was so excited to return back to work, he still remembers the smile on his face when he was given the all clear. Next week, he himself would be off crutches all together, but right now he had to stay working in the office.

Merlin tilted his head to the side and groaned as Arthur's lips quickly attached themselves to his neck. He ran his hands all the way down the blonde's back, coming to rest on his ass, pulling him closer.

Arthur bought his lips back to Merlin's briefly, kissing him slowly before pulling away. Merlin smiled and brought his hand up to lightly caress his lover's face. Arthur leaned into it smiling, before stepping back and over to the files Lance had bought.

"What was that for?" Merlin asked. Arthur shrugged.

"No reason, can't a guy just give his boyfriend a kiss whenever he wants? There doesn't have to be a special occasion." Merlin raised an eyebrow.

"No… I don't think that's the reason." Arthur turned his back to Merlin, causing him to hop off the desk and wrap his arms around Arthur's waist from behind.

"C'mon you can tell me." Arthur hummed.

"It's stupid," he said lowering his head. Merlin kissed the side of his neck.

"No. Whatever it is, it's not stupid. You've never been so spontaneous, or risky. Why today?"

Arthur sighed and turned around.

"It's… our three month today." A huge grin spread across Merlin's face.

"It is? And you remembered? That is, so cute." Arthur frowned.

"It's not cute, I don't even think about it."

"Yeah me too," Merlin said honestly, "A relationship should be measured on love and memories, not time." Arthur nodded.

"Still I just thought that…" Merlin put a finger over Arthur's lips.

"It's fine. I'm really touched that you remembered it."

"Oh god Merlin, don't start getting all soppy on me," Arthur said, running one hand up and down Merlin's arm.

"I'm not getting soppy. I just appreciate things that other people wouldn't, no matter how small they are. So thank you."

"Then you're welcome." Merlin smiled and went to grab his crutch off the floor.

"So, what are you doing today?"

"Well, according to father, there was a large fire yesterday. The scene is still open for investigation until tomorrow, so I'm going to go with Lance to see what we can pick up."

"When are you leaving?" Merlin asked. Arthur looked at his watch.

"Lance should be walking in right this second." Merlin looked towards the door, and sure enough Lance came striding through.

"Once again, do you know how to knock?" Arthur said. Lance just smiled.

"So are we going? Cause if we don't go today then we can't go tomorrow because then it's the weekend and then you're not coming in next week." Merlin was confused.

"What do you mean? Why isn't he coming in?"

"Merlin, I am coming in."

"Oh no, you're not," Lance said, "Every employee always gets their birthday week off."

Merlin looked over to Arthur, who seemed to be pretty pissed off at Lance.

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday next week?"

"Because it's not important."

"Every birthday is important."

"Birthdays are just a dumb celebration of when you were born. We know the day, big deal."

"Arthur just doesn't like the happy celebrating," Lance said, "but he _loves _the attention that it brings."

"Shut up Lance," Arthur said.

"Whatever man. Are we going or not?" Arthur nodded, smiled at Merlin and walked out with Lance.

* * *

Merlin sat at Arthur's computer happily typing away. He kind of liked it in the office, but he knew his place was out on the scene. He enjoyed working at C.B.I, but he missed his firehouse, and everyone who worked there.

He picked up his phone.

"_Hello."_

"Hey Val, its Merlin."

"_Merlin! What's up bro?"_

"Nothing much, just sitting in Arthur's office."

"_Oh so you're back at work. Good for you. Haven't heard from you in a while man. I believe the last time was to get you out of a burning building."_

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that Val. Just with Arthur's problems, my ankle, and all the doctor's appointments…"

"_Hey, don't sweat it Merlin, I totally understand. So how's your little shit?"_

"You still don't like him eh?"

"_I still think he's a complete stuck up ass if that's what you mean."_

"He's really not like that Val."

"_I don't know…"_

"You would know if you knew him as well as I do," Merlin said quickly.

"_What does…"_

There was silence on the other line.

"Hello?"

More silence. Finally…

"_You're fucking him, aren't you?" _Merlin almost dropped the phone.

"What? No…I…"

"_Oh my God, you so are! Tell me, what's he like?"_

"Val! I am not having sex with him."

"_Come on! Not even a little rump roast?"_

"Val!"

"_Ok ok, but you are seeing him, right?"_ Merlin sighed.

"Yes, I am seeing him, and don't tell anyone, Arthur's not ready for anyone to know."

"_Wow Merlin, you scored another guy in the closet. When are you going to stop?"_

"Val…"

"_Alright I know, I won't go there. Does he treat you right?"_

"At first he was really nervous. Then after the fire, he started acting like the biggest prick to me so I stopped seeing him for a while, but its good now. Better than good actually. It's our three months today."

"_Three months? Wait… so that means you were together before the cinema fire. How did I not notice?"_

"It's alright Val."

"_No it's not! I always pick these things. Shit, I'm losing my mojo." _Merlin laughed.

"You always know how to make my day better."

"_You know it chief. So, the little shit… you like him a lot?"_

"Yeah I do."

"_And he's not going to turn into another Will?" _

"I hope not."

"_Well he better not. I know I didn't bust Will's balls because I didn't have the chance, but if shit face does anything to you, I. Will. Cut. Him."_

"As much as that freaks me out, thanks man. It's nice to know I have such an awesome friend."

"_Brother man… brother." _Merlin smiled.

"Where are you?"

"_Well I was just about to go and grab some lunch, want to join me?"_

"I can't drive, and Arthur dropped me off."

"_No worries, I'll come pick you up. Go wait out front, be there in ten."_

"You are the best."

"_So many people say." _

Merlin laughed and hung up. He grabbed his crutch and walked outside.

"Where do you think you're going?" Morgana asked leaning over her desk.

"Going to lunch with Val. Haven't seen him in a while so we're going to catch up."

"Hmmm, Arthur gave me orders to not let you out of this office." Merlin raised an eyebrow.

"Since when did you follow Arthur's orders?" She laughed.

"An excellent point, have fun Merlin."

"Thanks, do you want to come? You haven't met Val have you?"

"I don't want to impose," Morgana said.

"Not at all. I'm sure Val would love to meet you." Morgana smiled.

"OK, I'll just grab my purse."

Merlin and Morgana walked out the front of the building and waited for Val. When he showed up and Merlin asked if Morgana could join them, he took one look at her and said, "Yes please." The three of them ended up at a small random restaurant in the outskirts of Camelot. Merlin smiled as Val pulled out Morgana's chair and ended up paying for the meal. Merlin thanked him, but knew it was really for Morgana. When she went to the bathroom, Merlin cornered him.

"You like her."

"What? I do not."

"C'mon man, it's so obvious," Merlin said, "You pulled out her chair."

"I was being polite."

"Well, then why didn't you pull out my chair? I am the disabled one here."

Val shrugged.

"You should ask her out."

"No."

"Why not? She was so interested in what you had to say, she likes you too I can tell," Merlin said, patting Val supportively on the shoulder.

"I'm not looking for a relationship right now."

"Dude, you're twenty three and you haven't had a girlfriend in two years." Val glared at him.

"It sounds really bad when you say it like that." Merlin smiled.

"You can do it. You are an awesome guy, any girl would be lucky to have you."

"Thanks Merlin."

"No problem."

They drove back to C.B.I quickly, having gone over their lunch hour.

"That was really fun," Morgana said, "Maybe we should do it again soon."

"Yeah," Merlin said.

"Totally, how about Friday?" Valiant said to Morgana. She smiled shyly.

"I'm busy Friday, dude," Merlin said, "But you guys can still go." Val turned to Morgana.

"Is that cool with you?" Morgana nodded.

"Of course."

"Great. So um… I'll see you Friday, same time. You pick the place."

"OK," Morgana said tucking some hair behind her ear.

"Cool, see you Val," Merlin said. Val pulled Merlin into a hug. Merlin smiled.

"Hey Arthur!" Morgana called and Merlin pulled away, looking over to where Arthur and Lance were walking across the street towards the building.

"Hey Morgana, where are you going?"

"Actually we just came back. Valiant here took Merlin and me out to lunch." Arthur raised an eyebrow at Val.

"Did he now?"

"Yes I did, and you don't have to be shitty about it. Oh, hey Lance, how's it going?"

"Hey man," Lance said raising a hand. Arthur snorted.

"I'm not getting shitty about it."

"Whatever you say. Anyways I'm going to depart. See you later friends… and Arthur Shitdragon."

Arthur stepped forward but was stopped by Merlin.

"He's just playing around."

"How about I play around with his face instead?" Arthur growled. Val put his hands up.

"Relax man. I was just messing. Sorry if I pissed you off."

Arthur stepped away from Merlin and stormed into the building with Lance close at his heels.

"Sorry about him," Merlin said, "He's been going through a really tough time."

"It doesn't give him the right to treat people like shit," Val said.

"I totally agree," Morgana said.

"Anyways, I have to get back to the firehouse. See you later."

"Bye," Merlin said. Val got into his car.

"Oh, and Friday?"

"Friday," Morgana said smiled. Val nodded and drove off.

* * *

Merlin walked back into Arthur's office a short time later, where Arthur was standing against his desk, eyes down and arms crossed.

"Are you OK Arthur?" He looked up.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You seemed a bit on edge outside. You almost attacked Val."

"He was getting on my nerves," Arthur said.

"So? If I hit everyone who got on my nerves, well… let's just say some people would be dead by now." Arthur smiled.

"I'm sorry for acting like an idiot."

"It's OK. Anything new at the site?"

"We found a couple of things," Arthur said, "We really could have used your eyes though."

"Well I said that I could come…"

"I don't want you getting hurt anymore, that's why I asked you to stay here," he said, "Bloody Morgana can't do anything properly."

"That's not true. She didn't have to do what you told her. It was not related to work."

"I am going to get her back one day," Arthur said rubbing his hands together, "one day."

"She's going on a date with Val," Merlin said. Arthur smirked.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, they really hit it off at lunch. I've never seen Val act more mature. It was quite frightening actually." Arthur smiled slightly.

"I just hope this doesn't cause any problems."

"Why would it?" Merlin asked.

"I don't know, I just don't want Morgana getting hurt."

"She'll be fine, she can hold her own."

"I know," Arthur said. Merlin sighed and walked towards the door.

"Anyways, I have an actual problem that I need to sort out." Arthur hurried to the door to stop him from leaving.

"What problem?" Merlin smiled and kissed him lightly.

"What to get you for your birthday." Arthur rolled his eyes and Merlin stepped past him, smiling as he watched Morgana practically skipping on her way to the copying room.

Merlin's pocket began to vibrate and he laughed, reading a text from Val.

"_You aren't busy on Friday are you? Val."_

"Nope. You owe me big time :D Merlin."

* * *

**So another chapter down. I really liked this chapter for some reason, I don't know, I really like writing Val as a carefree sort of guy and not as a baddie. And he and Morgana are going on a date! **

**Reviews are love as always. Makes me want to write some slash :P**

**So next chapter should be up some time next week.**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	21. Chapter 21

**HELLO! Long time guys, hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas or whatever you celebrate :D Sorry this took so long, but I hope it's worth it, that's all I'm going to say. This chapter is actually quite long, like… super duper long cause a lot of important stuff happens and I wouldn't be bothered posting in into two chapters. Also because I didn't want to spare any detail and I wanted things to be as real as possible. I hope you enjoy that.**

**Just reminding you that this is a slash story, not your style…? Then stop :D**

**This chapter is dedicated to **_**Catindahat, **_**for being my wonderfullest British friend in the whole wide world :P**

**Enjoy xox

* * *

**

**Chapter 21**

Arthur sat drinking his hot chocolate in his apartment, enjoying the peace and quiet. It had been a while, just over three months, since his apartment had been this quiet. And it was all because of that one annoying, clumsy, idiotic…adorable man. Merlin. Merlin, he had to admit, was probably the best thing that had come into his life for a long time. His cheeks were beginning to hurt from all the time he smiled around him, his middle aching from all the times Merlin made him laugh. His lips… numb from the moments they had spent against his.

Arthur sipped some more of his hot drink. Unfortunately it was his birthday today, which meant happy smiles, people shoving gifts into his face and stupid decorations and songs. Morgana liked to keep some things old fashioned, he wished the girl would grow up sometimes. That was mostly the reason why he was sitting on his couch, at a little to eight in the morning on this birthday. He could picture it now:

Morgana would storm into his apartment in a couple of minutes, holding the biggest box on the planet, dragging his father along with her. She would hug him and plant kisses all over his face, father would settle with a handshake, handing him an envelope, usually money or a voucher to a nice dinner. Lance would probably show up as well, looking completely mad in a party hat, raving on about going to the pub later.

He shook his head, yes… today was going to be jolly. A knock on the door made him groan. He looked at the clock, two to eight, damn now she's coming early. He got off his couch, drowning the last of this mug and trotted sluggishly to the door. He opened it and opened his mouth to curse Morgana, but smiled as the door opened to reveal Merlin.

Merlin smiled brightly back. "Hi."

"Hi! What are you doing here so early?" Arthur said and suddenly he smiled, "You're off your crutches." Merlin nodded happily.

"I know, I'm so happy. And well, it is your birthday is it not?"

"Yes…and?" Merlin rolled his eyes and walked into the apartment.

"So I've come to wish you a happy birthday." Arthur shook his head, closing the door.

"You could have just waited until I got to work," he said.

"Oh no Arthur, you are not going to work today, or for the rest of this week." The blond groaned.

"You have got to be kidding me."

"No I'm not Arthur. You've been so busy and done so much for this case, you need a break."

"I just had a break," Arthur said, "a very large one in fact, and I'm not prepared to take another one." Merlin sighed.

"Please, this case is driving you insane."

"About that," Arthur said seriously, "I was looking through the reports yesterday and some of the pages seem to be missing."

"Missing?" Merlin asked.

"Yeah, it's a bit weird, but I'll just get Lance to look for them," Arthur said, "he likes those sorts of things."

"What, going on scavenger hunts?"

"No, making things right. He'll stop at nothing until his job is done." Merlin smiled and Arthur checked his watch.

"Ten…nine…eight…"

"Arthur, what are you doing?"

"Five…four…three…"

"Arthur…"

"One…" Arthur looked up at the door just as Morgana pushed through with Uther in tow. Merlin saw that she had a large box under her arm.

"Happy Birthday, Arthur!" She yelled smiling, dropping the box and embracing Arthur. She spotted Merlin and pulled out of her hug.

"When did you get here?" She asked.

"Um… a couple of minutes ago, why?" Morgana frowned.

"Oh here we go," Uther said. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"I'm always here first on Arthur's birthday," she said. Merlin had to admit that Morgana was being childish, but it was obviously something that meant a lot to her.

"If it makes you feel any better Morgana, I haven't said Happy Birthday to him yet and I don't have a present like you." Morgana smiled.

"Oh and by the way," Merlin said walking up to Arthur planting a small but passionate kiss on his lips, "Happy Birthday."

"Thank you," Arthur said rolling his eyes. He looked up at his father, walking over and embracing him.

"Happy birthday, son. I can't believe you are twenty four already."

"Yeah, I know."

"Your mother would be very proud of the man you have become today, Arthur," Uther said. Arthur nodded.

"That means a lot," he said. They smiled at each other and Morgana walked over.

"OK, present time. Mine first," she said pushing the box towards Arthur.

"Hey," Lance said walking through the door, "have I missed much?"

"Just about to open presents."

"Oh goodie, my favourite part," he said, holding his small package out to Arthur, "Happy Birthday mate." Arthur took it but it was snatched out of his hands by Morgana.

"Mine first," she growled. Lance backed away and stood over with Merlin.

"Of course," he said then leaned over to Merlin, "this is one of the most stressful days of her life. She wants everything to be perfect. It was something her and Arthur did before Ygraine died and she wanted to keep it alive."

"I understand," Merlin said.

"See this is why I hate birthdays," Arthur said, "everything is so pointless and such a hassle to everyone. I wish everyone would just forget it was my birthday today."

"Nonsense Arthur," Uther said sternly, "Stop being so foolish. Now open Morgana's gift, please."

Arthur eyed the big purple box before slowly ripping off the paper. He heard Morgana scoff from behind him and suddenly two hands came out of no where and ripped the rest of the paper off. Merlin and Lance chuckled.

"What is it?"

"It's…an espresso machine," Arthur said smiling.

"Do you like it?"

"Yes, I do actually and what's this say? Comes with a hot chocolate function?"

"Yes!" Merlin said loudly. Arthur looked at him curiously.

"I mean, um… that could come in handy." Everyone in the room laughed.

"Of course, now I don't have to give up coffee anymore." Merlin glared at him.

"OK, my turn," Lance said giving Arthur his gift for a second time. Arthur nodded and opened it, revealing a red and gold jersey. On the back it said 'PENDRAGON' in capital letters. Arthur smiled and shook his head.

"Yeah and look at the front now, near the crest thingy," Lance said. Arthur turned it around and sure enough, on the breast in small cursive writing, was the words 'Prince Arthur'. Arthur laughed loudly.

"Thanks man," he said and embraced Lance.

"OK now it's Uther's turn." Uther put a hand in his coat pocket and pulled out two envelopes, handing one to Arthur.

"What's this?" He asked.

"It's from your mother," Uther said and Arthur tensed, "She always wanted it to give to you on your twenty-four birthday. She has had it done all of these years. I haven't read it, but I hope that you will."

Arthur looked down at the envelope, his name written in his mother's handwriting on the front. He moved it around in his hands.

"Arthur," he heard Merlin say, "You don't have to open it now if you don't want to. You can wait until you're alone."

"No, I'm fine." Arthur moved to the couch. He took a deep breath and began to read.

"Dear Arthur…"

_Wow, look how far you've come. There were times I thought you would never make it to twenty-four, being the trouble maker you were. Your father was convinced that we should have had you micro chipped, or on a leash sometimes. You were a wild spirit, full of curiosity and adventure, just like your father. A talent for trouble… now a talent for solving it. _

_I am so proud of you Arthur. You have become a son that I love more than anything in this entire world. On my twenty-fourth birthday, I found out I was pregnant with you. I can honestly say… that was the happiest day of my life. I was going to have a child, a little boy that I would love more than life itself to my dying day._

_Watching you grow up, I have come to know you better than anyone on this planet. So listen to me when I say this Arthur, listen well. When there comes a time in your life when it seems that all hope is lost, or there is no where to turn, know that you will always have me. No matter where I am or you are, no matter how many wrongs you have done, I am your mother and I will help you and support you with whatever you choose to do._

_And when it comes that you find a special someone who cares for you deeply, hold them close. It is a gift to have love at any time, no matter how long or short. Cherish it, everyday like I do with your father. He was my forever man; I hope someday you can find someone like him too. It does not matter who they are Arthur, all you need from them is that unique something that no one else can give you, and that is their heart. Promise me that you will follow yours wherever or whoever it may take you to. Your heart knows better than anyone else's in the world, no matter how hard they will try to convince you. _

_My dear and only son, I hope you will be happy on this day, as well as the many that will come after it. Now, go have a big party with your friends, and enjoy life. I don't think you would want to be stuck in the house with the oldies now would you? Don't worry; I'll convince your father. _

_Happy Birthday, my Arthur._

_My everlasting love,_

"Your mother." Arthur finished the letter and placed it in his lap. He had tears swelling in his eyes and was trying desperately to hold them in. Merlin looked up at Uther, who on the other hand, was letting his flow freely.

"That was so beautiful," Morgana said weakly.

"Yes it was," Uther said. Arthur breathed in deeply and Merlin rubbed his back.

"She knew," he said finally.

"What?" Uther said sitting next to his son.

"Didn't you hear? She knew that I am…She was telling me to be strong when I find someone special."

"Whoever they are," Merlin said nodding his head. Arthur's mother must have known for years and never said anything. She had already accepted it and treated him no different.

"She was always such an accepting woman," Uther said sadly.

"Yeah, but it's a shame I never got the chance to thank her for being so," Arthur said.

"Anyway, let's not dwell on it… that was a beautiful letter. Thank you mum."

"Now time for my gift." Uther held out another envelope and Arthur took it. Inside was a voucher for an on the spot plane trip for two to anywhere in the world.

"Really? Spontaneous road trip much?" Morgana said.

"Thanks, father," Arthur said, "I love it." Arthur smiled and looked at Merlin, raising an eyebrow.

"Later," was all he said.

"Well," Morgana announced standing up, "I think we should all go out for a birthday breakfast and then leave Arthur the day to do as he wants. What does everyone think?"

"I'm up for that," Lance said, "as long as I'm not paying." Uther laughed.

"Don't worry, I'm paying."

"Oh OK, because you know if you had of asked me, I would have…"

"God Lance just shut up and get in the car!"

* * *

"Wow, that was amazing," Merlin said putting his empty mug down.

"Yes it was, thank you everyone," Arthur added.

"I don't feel so good," Lance said, holding his stomach.

"Then you shouldn't have eaten so much," Morgana said.

"I know and I don't care, I'm totally fine."

"Maybe you should go home," Merlin suggested.

"No, it's Arthur's birthday breakfast, I can't just leave."

"Lance its fine," Arthur said, "If you're not feeling well, just go home."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"OK, I guess I just need to get home. Fuck. Thanks so much for breakfast guys."

"Are you going to be OK?" Merlin asked.

"Yeah, probably some bad tofu or something. Don't worry. Have a good birthday Arthur."

"Bye," Arthur said watching him run to his car, "And thanks." Uther frowned.

"I hope he's OK."

"Yeah me too. He looked quite pale."

"I told him to get the bacon," Arthur said. Morgana slapped him.

"You're an idiot Arthur, Lance is a vegetarian, you could have totally offended him."

"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Merlin smiled.

"I have to get to the office," Uther said standing up, "and I swear to god Arthur, if I see you anywhere near your office I will drag you back home myself."

"I can chain him inside his apartment," Morgana said.

"As lovely as that sounds Morgana, I think Merlin can keep him in line for the day."

"I have to be at work today," Merlin said.

"Really?" Uther said walking away gesturing for Morgana to follow, "I don't seem to recall, its Saturday isn't it Merlin?" Arthur smiled and Morgana giggled.

"Um… no it's…"

"Have a good birthday Arthur. Bye Merlin."

After they had left, Merlin frowned and looked at Arthur.

"Did he just give me the day off?"

"I think he did," Arthur said laughing.

"So… we have the whole day to ourselves?" Arthur reached for his hand under the table.

"Yes, we do."

* * *

"Ah, Arthur…mmmhh" Merlin moaned running his hands down Arthur's back. He was pinned up against the door of Arthur's apartment, the blonde's lips running shamelessly along his neck. Merlin grabbed his hair and pulled Arthur's lips to his, claiming his mouth with his tongue. Arthur moaned, sending shivers down Merlin's spine.

"Um… Arthur?" Merlin asked breaking away.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just that…" Merlin looked away. Arthur moved his head so they had eye contact.

"What is it?"

"Can we… go to your room?" Arthur stared at him, expressionless for a couple of seconds, before suddenly lifting Merlin off the ground and running down the corridor. Merlin laughed out loud as Arthur practically sprinted towards his bedroom, Arthur slapping his ass as a result. He put Merlin down in front of the door, opening it for him.

"Why didn't you just carry me all the way in?" he asked.

"I wanted you to go in first," Arthur said, "It's your choice, you can walk away now and I won't be mad."

"I already made the decision," Merlin said.

"I know. But I want the first step into it to be your own." Merlin smiled as his heart swelled. Arthur cared about him so much; he thought everything down to the last detail.

"Thank you," he said.

"And we'll only go as far as you want to go, like always." Merlin nodded and kissed him, before taking his hand and pulling him into the room.

**(I was so going to end it there, but I was like- there is no way I am that mean :D)**

Merlin pulled Arthur towards him, placing a soft kiss on his lips. He wanted everything to be perfect, every touch, every feeling. He moved his hands down to Arthur's waist and pulled his shirt over his head. Arthur smiled and kissed him, before doing the same. Merlin's bare chest was exposed to Arthur like the most expensive porcelain, so soft and perfect. Arthur moved forward, moving his hands up Merlin's arms and onto his bare shoulders. Merlin's hand was on his neck; his finger's occasionally running through Arthur's hair. He ran up and down the raven's back, his head coming to rest on his shoulder, planting small kisses there. A soft moan escaped Merlin's lips as Arthur gently pleasured him.

The room was dark, so Merlin could see Arthur only faintly. It was amazing how much a lack of light could change the mood of the room. He began to walk backwards, Arthur slowly following him until they were at the bed. Merlin smiled shyly at him, before pushing down on Arthur's shoulders causing him to sit down on the edge. Merlin stood back for a moment admiring his lover. Arthur was looking up at him, eyes full of arousal. His hair was slightly out of place, falling across his face. His breathing was shallow and uneven his toned chest rising and falling at random intervals. Arthur's arms and torso were very muscular, almost making Merlin drool so he had to remember to shut his mouth.

He shut his eyes and took a breath, it was now or never.

Merlin bore his eyes into Arthur's while slowly bringing his hands down to pull off his belt.

"Merlin…"

He took off his pants with shaky hands.

"Merlin, what are you doing?"

Now only in his boxers, he walked up to Arthur, positioning himself on his lap. His whole body has Goosebumps and his breath was shaky, but he tried so hard not to make it obvious to the blond in front of him. Suddenly Arthur's eyes went wide.

"Merlin… you don't have to do this."

"I know," he whispered, his face only inches from Arthur's, "But I want to. You're really special to me. I just want to show you how much."

Arthur could feel himself blush and he looked away from Merlin, slowly caressing his lower back.

"You don't know how nice it is to hear you say that, but if you're not ready, we can wait. I mean, look you're shaking, Merlin. Admit it, you're scared and you're nervous." Merlin shook his head and kissed Arthur's shoulder.

"I'm not scared and nervous," he said simply leaning into Arthur's ear, "I'm scared and excited."

Arthur shivered. He pulled back a little.

"I'm ready," Merlin said, "And I want to be yours Arthur. Being with you… it's shown me what it feels like to be cared about, what it's like to be part of a family, a real family." Merlin took a breath, "And, most importantly… what it's like to be in a loving relationship. I haven't had that in a long time."

Arthur felt a tear fall down his cheek.

"Oh fuck, I'm crying. Arthur you're a man, you shouldn't be crying," he said turning away from Merlin and wiping his face. Merlin laughed.

"If it makes you feel any better," he said, "After this, I can forget you ever did." Now it was Arthur's turn to laugh.

"You don't have to forget, just… don't tell anyone OK?" Merlin nodded and kissed Arthur deeply, wrapping his hands around his neck. Arthur pulled him closer.

"Are you sure you're ready? It's only been thirteen weeks."

"I know," Merlin replied, "But you don't feel by the clock, you feel from the heart."

Arthur smiled, "And do you want to um…"

"I'll…bottom," Merlin said, "It's easier that way."

"So I'll lead," Arthur said. Merlin nodded pressing his forehead against Arthur's. Arthur bought his hand up to Merlin's face, caressing his cheek, Merlin leaning into the touch and smiled.

* * *

He got off of Arthur, slowly walking around to the side of the bed, crawling on top of the mattress. He pushed himself up and laid his head back onto the pillows. As soon as his head touched the pillows, his lips were met by Arthur's, closing his eyes, remembering to enjoy every moment, like it was the last thing he would ever feel. Arthur growled possessively as Merlin started to kiss him back, his tongue slipping between Arthur's lips. Arthur lifted his leg up and swung it over Merlin's body so he was now above him on his knees, Merlin noticing that Arthur had removed his pants and was now in his boxers as well. Merlin wrapped his arms around the blonde's back and pulled him flush against him, both men moaning at the skin contact.

Arthur could feel Merlin erection against his own, and it felt… wonderful. He had never been with a man before and for the first time since he had started dating Merlin, he didn't care. Merlin was so beautiful and his skin was so soft, Arthur didn't remember any of his previous female lovers having such an effect on him in such a short time. Arthur rocked his hips into the boy's beneath him, causing a loud groan to escape from both of them. The movements got quicker, Arthur's becoming almost desperate, attempting to have as much contact as possible in their current position. Merlin's head was tucked into his shoulder and Arthur could feel his touch running along his collar bone. Merlin was moaning loudly, having gone from Arthur's name, to nothing at all, just grunts and incoherent sentences. Not long after, Arthur saw Merlin throw his head back and scream his name, before stiffening under him, his nails digging into Arthur's shoulders. The sight alone had Arthur tipping over the edge as well.

Merlin struggled to get his breathing under control, after probably having the biggest orgasm of his life. Merlin looked up at Arthur who was also breathing heavily above him smiling and bringing him down for a short kiss.

"That felt really nice," he said.

"I know I'm brilliant," Arthur said causing Merlin to roll his eyes, "Do you still want to go further?" He nodded.

Arthur kissing him again then brought his hand up, placing one finger in the middle of Merlin's forehead. He slowly moved it down the ridge of his nose, past his lips and down his chest and around each nipple, and then the torso. It stopped at his underwear.

"Lift your hips a bit," Arthur said and Merlin did so. He kept eye contact with Merlin, then hooked the finger into the waistband and slowly pulled the boxers off. Merlin lifted his feet and Arthur threw them across the room. Merlin looked away from Arthur, suddenly becoming fearful. Being exposed like this was something Merlin was never ready for. He didn't find himself particularly attractive. What if Arthur was repulsed by him? Arthur grabbed Merlin's chin and bought him back.

"Stop worrying," he said, "You're beautiful." Merlin smiled and Arthur gave Merlin's cock a few experimental strokes to justify his statement causing Merlin to buck his hips and moan loudly.

"Arthur," Merlin said, "Shit!"

"Please don't," Arthur said sarcastically causing Merlin to glare at him, but that glare was quickly changed as Arthur ran his thumb along the head.

"Ah! Please, Arthur… no teasing."

"But where's the fun in that?" Arthur said.

"No fun," Merlin said biting his lip, "Just… oh good, so so good."

Arthur smiled and continued to fist Merlin's cock just like he would himself. He was still just going on pure instinct which seemed to be working, as Merlin was once again fully hard. Arthur kissed Merlin, before moving down and placing a kiss on the inside of Merlin's left thigh.

"Arthur…"

He moved to the right thigh, having let go of Merlin's cock completely. As he continued, Merlin's groans began to become frustrated.

"Fuck Arthur, please… please." Arthur ran his hands up along Merlin's body and back down again, completely missing Merlin's groin. That had Merlin fisting the sheets, obviously annoyed. Finally, feeling sorry for him, Arthur placed his mouth around Merlin's erection. Merlin's eyes went wide and he arched his back, screaming at the wetness around his cock.

"Oh god, yes!"

Arthur ran his tongue around the head, tasting the salty pre-cum. He had to admit, he didn't like the taste that much, but the noises that Merlin was making were worth every second. He ran his tongue along the underside, before taking all of Merlin into his mouth.

Merlin covered his face with his hand to muffle the scream that was threatening to escape. The pleasure that he had felt in the past fifteen minutes, was more than all he had felt in his entire life. His fear had been pushed to the back of his mind, as he felt Arthur's lips move up and down his cock, his tongue wickedly running wherever it fucking wanted. A familiar feeling in Merlin's stomach appeared as Arthur began to touch his balls.

"Arthur," Merlin whimpered, "Arthur I'm going to…"

Arthur quickly removed his mouth and Merlin came for the second time into his hand. Merlin closed his eyes, trying to come back down from his second high, smiling as Arthur came and crawled up next to him, lying on his side. Merlin took this chance to look at Arthur properly. As his eyes travelled downwards, the only way he could describe him was, well… fucking well endowed. He began thinking how much this could possible hurt him.

"Now," Arthur said, "how do you want to do this?"

Having thought this through the three days in between when Merlin found out it was Arthur's birthday and Arthur's birthday, he knew exactly what he wanted. He pushed Arthur up so he was sitting against the headboard. Merlin then got on top of him, gasping as their naked cocks touched.

"Are you sure?" Arthur asked. Merlin nodded.

"I want to see you and be able to read you're face. But I also want you to read mine," he brushed Arthur's hair aside, "I also want to have some control if that's…"

"I totally understand," Arthur said smiling, "And this way, I get to be closer to you too." Merlin nodded.

Arthur reached over and pulled a condom and lube out of his side draw, lubing up three of his fingers. He hadn't used it in a while but he kept it there, just in case. He would have like to be without one for Merlin, but safety does come first and he thought the entry might be smoother with one on. That's what the girls who liked this sort of thing had told him anyways when he was doing it to them.

Arthur bought his lips up to meet Merlin's, grabbing his raven hair and pulling him passionately to him. While he was distracting him, he pushed a lubed finger into his entrance. Merlin groaned into the kiss, his whole body tensing up. Arthur broke away and looked into Merlin's eyes.

"It's OK. You have to relax; it'll hurt more if you don't. Please." Merlin nodded, closing his eyes. Arthur felt Merlin relax around him and pushed the first finger all the way in. Merlin was looking down and breathing steadily trying to hide his nerves from Arthur. But Arthur knew he was scared, he was too. But he was more scared of hurting Merlin than actually doing anything right.

Arthur started to move the finger in and out of his entrance, Merlin whimpering and bringing his hands to Arthur's shoulders. After a while, Arthur could begin to feel Merlin pushing against him, so he decided to add the second finger. It wasn't greeted with as much hostility as the first and soon Arthur was pushing both in and out of Merlin, bringing forth small moans from his lips.

Then, Arthur touched something inside Merlin that he didn't recognise, causing the smaller boy to call out and arch his back.

"I'm so sorry Merlin; I didn't mean to hurt you."

"No," Merlin gasped, "That spot… it felt amazing. Please… touch it again." Arthur quickly pushed his fingers, along with the third one inside of him, trying to find that spot. He found it and Merlin was screaming into his shoulder.

"Fuck! Right there!" Arthur smiled, knowing that was the spot to hit when he was inside of him. Arthur continued this a few more times before Merlin stopped him.

"Don't make me come yet," he said, "I need you inside me. Now."

Arthur quickly removed his fingers, pulled on the condom and lubed it up. He positioned himself at Merlin's entrance.

"You can push down," Arthur said, "And if it hurts and you need to stop, I want you to stop OK?"

"OK," Merlin said kissing Arthur's neck below his ear. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, slowly pushing himself onto Arthur's cock. As the head began to breach him, Merlin bit his lip. He wanted to be strong and endure the pain, but it hurt a lot.

"Relax," Arthur whispered in his ear, rubbing circles on his back. Merlin breathed in, and then pushed himself lower while he was breathing out. He cried out in pain again, but was happy that he had pushed some of the member inside of him. He tried moving again, but it was still painful.

"Hey, not too fast," Arthur said. Merlin scrunched his eyes shut.

"It… hurts."

"I know, remember to relax. If you want we can stop."

"No," Merlin said, "You're right I just need to relax. Its fine, you did everything you could to prepare me for the pain." Arthur nodded and kissed Merlin's shoulder. They stayed like that for about half a minute before Merlin pushed down further and slowly seated himself on Arthur's lap. He looked up at Arthur, who was smiling at him widely.

"You did it," he said and Merlin kissed him bringing their chests together.

"Now only move when you're ready." Merlin waited until he couldn't feel any pain, before lifting himself up a little and then dropping back down, causing a loud moan to escape both him and Arthur.

"Merlin… you feel so wonderful around me," Arthur said putting his hands on Merlin's waist. Merlin started to move a little more.

"How does it feel?"

"It feels… nice," Merlin said, "Like I'm complete." Arthur smiled.

"Tell me when you want to go faster and I'll help you," he said. Merlin nodded and continued to move his body up and down. Once he felt ready, he met Arthur's eyes and moaned as Arthur began thrusting up into him as he came down.

"That feels so good," Merlin said. But Arthur wanted to make him feel better than good. He searched frantically for that spot that made Merlin scream. Then on one thrust Merlin threw his head back, all his previous pain flying out the window.

"There! Fuck, right fucking there!" Arthur smiled and thrust against that spot.

"Harder Arthur, please!" He happily complied.

"God, Merlin, you're so tight, it feels amazing." Merlin's entrance was tightening around him with each spasm of pleasure that seared through his lover, and he wanted it to happen even more. He wanted Merlin to remember this.

He lifted his legs so his feet were flat on the mattress, and began pounding into Merlin, who was gripping tightly onto his shoulders, thrashing his head wildly from side to side and moaning like an animal. Merlin's hands somehow found their way to his nipples and was tweaking them, causing Arthur to curse loudly to the sky. He didn't know if he could hold on for much longer. Arthur wrapped a hand around Merlin's erection that was bouncing between them, jerking him off in time with the thrusts.

"Arthur…" Merlin whispered after a while, "I'm not going to be able to keep this up."

"I know me too. It's OK, ah…" Merlin covered Arthur lips with his own and they moaned into each other's mouths as they rode out their orgasms together, Merlin's come shooting all over both of their chests. They broke apart and Arthur pulled out, Merlin tired after his third orgasm of the morning.

He looked up at Arthur who was slumped against the headboard, sweat running down the side of his face and chest. Merlin smiled running his hands through Arthur's chest hair. Arthur smiled.

"How are you?" Merlin smiled back resting his head against Arthur's chest.

"Never better," he said, closing his eyes as Arthur arms wrapped around his body.

* * *

Merlin woke up and there was sun shining through the window. His first instinct was that it was morning, but that was until he saw that it was four in the afternoon. He sat up, but parts of his body had a slight ache, especially his lower half.

"Good afternoon sleepy head," Arthur said Merlin shooting his head up to see him in the doorway.

"Hi," Merlin said, "How are you?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Arthur said coming to sit on the bed in only his boxers.

"I'm sore, but other than that, I am over the moon."

"You mean you're alright?" Merlin nodded.

"I am. Thank you, I couldn't have done it without you."

"Of course not," Arthur said. Merlin shook his head.

"That's not what I meant prat. I meant thank you for taking care of me when I was scared. You make it the most wonderful afternoon of my life." Arthur smiled and kissed him.

"Well then… you're welcome. Does that mean I will be getting some more often?" Merlin hit his arm.

"If you're good," he said. He got slowly out of bed.

"Now that you're present is over, I'm going to give you another one."

"That was my present?" Arthur said.

"Yes, did you like it?"

"Very." Merlin blushed.

"Well then, Happy birthday." Arthur got up and leaned against the wall as Merlin put his pants on.

"Now, you were saying about another one?" Merlin wiggled his eyebrows.

"How would you feel if I say… snuck into your office and took some files off your desk and bought them here so you're not bored for the whole week?" Arthur's eyes lit up.

"You would do that?"

"Of course, anything for the birthday boy." Merlin grabbed his jacket.

"Oh, and I could also try and find those pages that were missing from the files, you know, make some calls and such."

"That would be fantastic," Arthur said smiling.

"I'll be back soon and maybe, just… maybe," He said waving a hand at the bed, "we could try that again?" Arthur licked his lips and smiled.

"I'll be here waiting."

* * *

Arthur sat on his couch, watching television. He looked at his watch, quarter to five. Merlin shouldn't be taking this long. He probably ran into Morgana and she's asking what about what they did all day. And Merlin's probably blushing like the biggest idiot trying to make up some story that would get her off his back. Arthur sighed and grabbed his jacket. Oh well, might as well go and save the idiot.

Arthur walked into his building and walking up the stairs to his department. As he got to the last stair he was met by Uther.

"Arthur, what are you doing here? God, not even a day and you're already here."

"Relax, father," Arthur said pushing past him, "I just came to look for Merlin. He was going to pick some stuff up for me." Uther snorted.

"So you send Merlin to get your stuff for you so you don't come in, and then you come in anyway. That worked out nicely for you." Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. So I'm looking for Merlin, where is the moron?"

"I haven't seen him," Uther said. Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Do you think Morgana has seen him?"

"Seen who?" Morgana said coming up to them, "And Arthur what are you doing here?"

"Never mind, I'm looking for Merlin."

"Well I haven't seen him," she said, "and I've been watching you're office non-stop on Uther's orders." Arthur glared at Uther.

"What?" he said, "I had to make sure you weren't here." Arthur sighed.

"Can we focus, where's Merlin?"

"I was thinking the same thing," Val said coming up the staircase, "I was looking for him too, see if wanted to hang out."

"And you didn't find him?"

"No, but I did find this on your front step," he said handing an envelope to Arthur.

Arthur looked at the envelope addressed to him and opened it. As he read what it said, his eyes widened in shock and he dropped the letter leaning against the wall.

"What?" Morgana said, "What did it say?" Uther picked up the letter and read the three words.

"_I have Merlin."

* * *

_

**Well, I hope that was a good enough chapter to end the year. Wow, next chapter will be in the new year, how exciting.**

**This was probably the longest chapter I've ever written, I think just over 6000 words.**

**And I know most of you will be happy that they finally did it. I know it seems a little early, but it had to happen so the story could more on.**

**Now, about the sex. Most of you are probably used to me writing just like mindless sex with lots of dirty talk etc. But this time, I wanted it to be real. I mean, who is to say that the character that was openly gay at the beginning can't be the one leads? I thought it was a nice change from the stereotypical gay character that had all the experience. The long scene was more about the trust and the emotional connection between the boys, rather than actually getting it on. I hope you guys liked that about it.**

**And so… now that's out of the way, the action begins. :D YAY! Arthur's going to have a great birthday eh? :P I know I had to have a cliffie for the new year. Sorry to those who will probs get pissed. I love you guys :P**

**PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER. JUST A SMILEY OR WORD IS ENOUGH FOR ME :D**

**And next chapter should be up next year LOL that sounds so long even though its only a day away. HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello people! Sorry this too so long, my internet like totally died so I couldn't upload this.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter as much as I did :D I know a lot of you were very pleased with the long chapter; I'll try to make them a bit longer from now on with lots of good stuff.**

**Thank you also for all the wonderful reviews. I'm sorry about the cliffhanger last chapter, but I just felt like being cheeky and it worked perfectly. **

**The beginning bit of this chapter is structured a bit differently so I hope it's OK. It goes back to normal, near the end.**

**This is continuing on, Merlin and Arthur are not going to be reunited just yet… sorry. I'll give Arthur a chance to miss him :D**

**Hope you enjoy it xox**

**Chapter 22**

"Oh my God," Morgana said raising her hand over her mouth, "This can't be happening. Poor Merlin."

"No," Arthur said, "No, no, no!" His fist collided with a nearby wall.

"Arthur, calm down," Uther said placing a hand on his shoulder. Arthur violently shrugged it off.

"No father, I will not calm down. Merlin has been kidnapped and I have no idea what to do."

"We need to call the police," Val said.

"We are the police!" Arthur yelled, "And Merlin's been swept away from right under our noses."

"I'm going to call them anyway," Morgana said walking over to her office.

"OK, I'll call Lance and see if he's well enough to come in. Valiant, I need you to go back to your firehouse and find Merlin's sister, tell her what's happened and bring her here. Arthur," Uther said, "I need you to find Merlin's roommate, she needs to come here as well."

"I'll tell her," Morgana said walking back to the group, "She's my good friend. And I called the police; they're sending some guys over now."

"Well then what am I supposed to do?" Arthur said.

"Right now you need to go into your office, with a coffee and calm down. You're not helping anyone being the way you are." He shook his head.

"No fucking way," Arthur spat, "I want to do something. I want to help find Merlin."

"The only thing you're going to find in a minute is a red cheek from being slapped if you don't calm down," Morgana said storming off to grab her things from her desk. Uther raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, point taken. But we can't waste any more time," Arthur said. Val walked over to the reception desk with concerned eyes. "Morgana stop fumbling for your keys, I'll drive you. Gwen's work is on the way." Morgana looked up and nodded, her shaky hands tightly grasping her black handbag. Val put an arm around her shoulder and led her away. Arthur watched the two of them file down the stairs, wishing he could go with them. He groaned, stretching his neck back.

"I know you're worried about Merlin, Arthur, but please, just do this for me," Uther said, "Grab a coffee and sit in your office until the police get here." Arthur sighed.

"OK, I'll go sit in my office…but it'll be with a hot chocolate."

* * *

Merlin groaned around his gag in frustration, trying to remember what had happened to him. His wrists ached from being tied behind his back and so did his head from what Merlin guessed was him being hit. All he could remember was walking into C.B.I… and then nothing. His mouth tasted funny, but he didn't know whether it was the gag material or whether he had been slipped something. He could feel exhaustion taking over him as he bounced up and down in what he guessed to be a boot of a car. He fought, but the fatigue won, and he slowly slipped back into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Fucking hell, this has to be the worst birthday ever."

Arthur paced around the room, his cooling hot chocolate sitting on the front of his desk. He had sat down for ten seconds with it, before feeling the urge to get up and walk around. He couldn't just sit around and do nothing. Merlin…the one partner he had that actually gave a shit about him was missing. Arthur couldn't believe after the beautiful moments that they had shared only an hour before, something this ugly had to happen. He felt a pain in his chest, something he usually felt when he was unsure of something. Yeah, he was unsure. He didn't know if Merlin was alive, hurt… dead. He didn't know when they were going to find him, if they were going to find him. He didn't know when he was going to see him again. Arthur gritted his teeth and ripped a piece of paper that was sitting in his printer. God, he needed to run, hit something, and make someone pay for that pain that he was feeling.

Merlin had let him make love to him for the first time, something he hadn't trusted to anyone. Arthur had to hold himself back from bubbling like an idiot when he realised. He had never felt that for anyone before, he didn't… quite understand. It made his heart pound and butterflies appear in his stomach. He didn't think it was love, yet. He couldn't… love anyone. Love just makes people hurt more, doesn't it? He had never given himself the opportunity to love after his mother died. The grief he had felt was just too much for him to handle. He couldn't… he couldn't love Merlin. He just… deeply cared for him, yeah, that's it. He sat on the floor next to the wall. But was that enough to make him miss the idiot like crazy, wishing he was there more each and every second? Or, what it enough to break all the rules to ensure his safety? Arthur shook his head. Of course… it is.

Arthur almost slapped himself. Here he was pondering on his pathetic dilemmas about his feelings when he should be focusing on Merlin. He didn't understand, what harm had Merlin done to anyone? He was just a normal, but talented person. He wasn't swimming in money, he wasn't overly influential and he didn't have many, if any enemies. So why would someone kidnap him? Was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or did someone take him for a reason?

Arthur put his head in his hands. This was just fucking ridiculous.

"Merlin… where are you?"

* * *

Oh man, where the hell am I? He was still tied up and gagged, but now he was also blindfolded. He had no idea why he was, I mean, even if he saw where he was going who was he going to tell? God, Merlin was confused, stuff like this was supposed to be Arthur's job, not his. Shit, Arthur! I hope he's OK and nothing's happened to him. Merlin felt terrible for him. He knew what happened was in no way his fault, but somehow he still felt responsible for the pain Arthur must be feeling. Merlin rolled his eyes, sure of yourself aren't you Merlin? How do you even know Arthur is worried about you? Merlin closed his eyes. He had to care about me…after what we had done before I was taken, that surely would have meant something to him. Merlin fought back tears at the memory. He had been so caring and so wonderful about everything, Merlin could have got up and left half way through and he wouldn't have even cared. He would have just comforted him and said that they would try again later. It was a side of Arthur Merlin wished he could have the chance to see more of. He missed him so much, and it had only been a couple of hours. He just wanted to go home.

* * *

"Arthur," Uther said walking into his son's office, but his son was not at the desk. The room was dark; everything looking like it hadn't been touched for months. He sighed as he saw movement in the back corner of the room. He walked over and crouched down next to his ball of a son.

"Arthur, it's going to be OK."

"No," he said, "It's all my fault, father." Uther grabbed Arthur by the shoulders.

"Now you listen to me Arthur," he said sternly, "This was in no way your fault, don't you dare think anything like it." A tear escaped from Arthur's eye.

"How can't I? If I have no one to blame, how am I supposed to cope with this? I mean…what do you do, when… someone you care about suddenly goes missing, you have no idea where they are and no leads at all? How are you supposed to have any sort of hope that you are going to find them? Tell me that father; please… tell me how to make the anxiety go away." Uther pulled his son towards him.

"I don't know, Arthur," Uther said, "I really don't. You just have to… have faith that they will return to you." Arthur nodded.

"I came to get you because the police are here. Also because Lance isn't answering his phone."

"He's probably asleep," Arthur said with a small smile.

"That's what I thought, so I got Morgana and Val to stop by his place," Uther said, "He wasn't there." Arthur creased his eyebrows.

"So? He could have just gone out." Uther sighed.

"No…He's gone too, Arthur. His apartment was a mess. Same handwriting, same note." Arthur tensed and rubbed his forehead.

"Shit."

* * *

Merlin groaned as he was hauled out of the back of the car by the shirt, a dull ache present through his entire body. He still didn't know where he was, who he was with. He had never been so scared in his life. What were they going to do with him? He whimpered through his gag as the man/woman/kidnapper pushed him forward. He didn't want to die…His fear was causing his breathing to become difficult, and he was feeling light headed. He hoped that his captor would let him sit or lie somewhere soon. He heard the sound of a heavy door being slid aside and was lead forward. He could tell that he was inside when he felt the rays of the sun leave his skin, only to be replaced by a cold draft. As soon as he did he counted the steps from the doorway to get an idea of how far in he was.

One…two…

Five…

Eleven…

Thirty nine…

He continued to walk and count until he felt a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to sit down on a chair. His legs were separated and tied to each leg and arms around the back. Merlin's blindfold was ripped off and he squinted, distracted in trying to get the sight back into his eyes he didn't hear his captor leave. When he finally focused his eyes and looked around, he was met with nothing but darkness and silence. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

Please Arthur, Merlin thought, please… take me home.

* * *

Arthur was led out of his office by his father and into the main meeting room, where he was met by Morgana, Val, Gwen and Freya who both looked much shaken, and three men in uniform. Gwen walked over to him and embraced him as he stepped into the room.

"I'm so sorry," she said into his ear. Arthur shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, Gwen. There's no time for sorrow, we should be focusing on finding Merlin and now Lance." He moved over to Freya and hesitantly kissed her forehead.

"It's going to be OK."

"Why?" She sobbed, "Why did this happen to him? What had he ever done to anyone that was so bad? He didn't deserve this…" Morgana put her arm around her shoulder.

"It's alright; shh… we are going to find him."

"And Lance," Val added.

"Let's get to it. Arthur this is Senior Sergeant Gwaine and Senior Constable Cendred. They are here to help us find Merlin and Lance." The two men nodded respectively as they were named.

"I know you are all very troubled at the present time, but if we are able to extract as much information about the two missing men as possible from this meeting, then we will be able to start our investigation." Gwaine turned to Gwen.

"Let's start with you, young lady, you are?"

"Gwen, I'm Merlin's roommate."

"So you and he share an apartment?" She nodded.

"Was there anyone that ever came to the apartment recently that seemed to have a problem with Merlin?"

"No, Merlin was a beautiful person; everyone he worked with or was friends with never had a problem with him that I know of."

"Was he acting suspiciously before he disappeared?"

"No, he was just as he always was, happier even. Everything was working out with him in his work, his relationship…"

"And who is he in a relationship with?" Gwaine said. Arthur raised his hand not caring who knew anymore.

"That would be me," he said.

"You?" Cenred said surprised.

"You got a problem with that?" Freya snapped, Val sitting taller in his seat, waiting to see if the man said something he didn't approve of about his friend. Cendred put his hands up in defence.

"Not at all madam. I just didn't know you were seeing anyone Detective Pendragon."

"Because it was my business," Arthur said smoothly.

"I understand. So, were you the last person that was with Merlin before he disappeared?"

"Yes I was. The rest of us were with Lance before he disappeared as well. We all went out to breakfast together."

"And everything seemed fine then?" Arthur nodded and looked around the table.

"Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Lance got sick and went home. I spent the rest of the day with Merlin at my apartment."

"What was he doing just before he disappeared?" Arthur felt himself blush slightly at the memory, but quickly composed himself.

"He said he was going to come and sneak some files for me out of my office so I could read them in my week off. I was banned from coming into the office because it was my birthday. After he didn't return, I came to the office myself to find him, but when I asked around I was told no one had seen him. They must have got him before he got here."

"Do you know if there were any witnesses?" Arthur shook his head.

"No one has come forward. Maybe you should get someone to ask around." Gwaine nodded, pulling out a notepad and scribbling something on it.

"What about Lance?"

"Lance was my partner, last I heard of him, he was recovering from food poisoning at his home. Father called him to come over here after we found out that Merlin had been kidnapped but he didn't answer. Morgana and Val went to his apartment and he wasn't there."

"Did it look like there was a struggle?" Gwaine asked.

"Oh definitely," Morgana said, "The door was open and the place was completely trashed." The sergeant nodded.

"Did Lance have any enemies?" Arthur shook his head.

"I don't think so, most of his friends work here at the office. He's been my best mate for over five years." A noise came from Cendred's pocket.

"Excuse me, I have to take this. I'll have some men do a background check on both men and send some over to Lance's apartment to have a look around." He nodded and left the room. Once he left the room and closed the door, Gwaine sat forward.

"OK, Cendred wouldn't want me to be telling you this, but I know you are all wondering how this investigation works and how much of a chance you have of seeing your friends again." He got up and began to walk around the table.

"Usually in abductions like this, the kidnapper will usually contact you again stating conditions for something they want, like money. Usually they will ask for the police not to get involved in the matter, which I think is completely stupid because they would know we are already involved by then. They will make threats, so if that happens, do not be scared, only about 3% of all kidnappers actually follow through with their threats on their victims and they usually have mental disorders or are in fear of being found or identified by their captives. We will usually try to trace the call or break it apart to try and identify a location which they are being kept. Lodges in the woods or abandoned warehouses or even apartments are most common in kidnapping cases." He took a deep breath.

"I'm going to be realistic and say that there is a chance that you will never see them again. Every single situation is different depending on the person. One case the captor could be found within a week, some for months. Others only the victims are found. It's hard to tell. It will be hard to assess your case until we have all the information as well as the contact by the kidnapper."

"So what you're saying is, we should just wait and do nothing?" Val said.

"Until contact is made, yes."

"But that could be weeks," Arthur said, "What if the kidnapper knows we are going to wait for contact, and then never contacts to keep us from getting more information?"

"Sometimes that happens," Gwaine said, "But it's not very common. Most of the time, after a while the kidnapper will feel the need to gloat about what they have achieved so they will tell somebody."

"And then we find them."

"Is there anything we can do until the time comes that we are needed again?" Uther asked.

"Just be available to provide any more information you might have as well as always have a buddy with you or stay together. If the kidnapper comes back for more, it will most probably be one of the people sitting in this room."

"I just can't sit here waiting," Arthur said, "I have to do something." Gwaine looked at him seriously.

"If this is the part where you are thinking about taking the law into your own hands, I suggest you stop, Pendragon."

"You don't understand. I'm a cop too. It's my job to bring horrible people to justice. Just in a different way to yours…" Arthur drifted off in mid sentence and looked at the table.

"I know that face, Arthur," Uther said, "What did you figure out?" Arthur looked at his father.

"What if the kidnapper is the arsonist?"

"The arsonist," Freya said, "why would it be him?"

"Think about it," Arthur said, "Remember the cinema… incident. Merlin and I were almost killed. Merlin saves me and we both live. What if he was supposed to die in that fire? Lance is working on the case in our absence but when I come back he gives me files with pages missing. What if those pages had the evidence we needed to convict the criminal? What if Lance found them and knows who it is? What if Merlin was close to figuring it out?"

"So he didn't want them to get in the way, so he kidnapped them," Gwen said.

"Exactly."

"Why wouldn't he just kill them?" Freya said.

"Doesn't have the stomach, wants them to suffer," Val replies.

"That's a nice theory, but it's nothing but a theory until we actually get some evidence," Gwaine said sitting back down, "But we will look into any possible scenario at this stage of the investigation." The door opened and Cendred walked back in.

"What you got?" Gwaine asked.

"Some of my detective guys are at Lance's apartment as we speak looking for clues that could help us." He sat down at the desk.

"In addition, my team at the office were able to do some digging on Lance and Merlin, see if they had any common friends, interests, things like that."

"Well they do," Gwaine said, "They work in the same area."

"That is true," Cendred said, "But I've been able to narrow it down even further." He leaned forward.

"Over the past couple of months both Lance and Merlin have worked at this bureau…"

"Yes… and?" Arthur said.

"Who have they worked for?"

"My father, I don't see where this is going."

"No Arthur, they work for you," Cendred said, "As well as this, Merlin is your partner and Lance is you're best friend." Arthur frowned.

"What are you saying?" Cendred sighed.

"What I am trying to say Arthur, is that Merlin and Lance only have one really big thing in common…"

"Which is?"

Cendred sat back and Uther put his hand on his shoulder.

"It's you."

* * *

**Well, I hope you all liked that. A lot of stuff happening :D I tried to make it a bit longer, it's about 3700 words which isn't bad for me.**

**So here things start to move forward, I will try to add in some twists and turns, try not to make it too predictable I hope you guys will like that.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! If you review I'll… let you slap Arthur's naked ass :P**

**Next chapter should be up in the next week or so.**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey everyone! OMG! I am so sorry for not updating sooner, its been so long. Like seriously… a couple of months. And I apologise with the strength of infinite Merlin and Arthur love. I have started uni and have needed to sort everything out. I know that is not a great excuse but I hope you guys can forgive me. That and a small amount of writer's block. Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews last chapter, it's probably been so long you don't remember if you did or not :D**

**Anyways I'll try to update more regularly, maybe within two weeks from now on.**

**Anways, missed you all and enjoy! Xox**

* * *

**Chapter 23**

When Merlin woke, the first thing he smelled was ash. His arms and legs ached from being tied to the stupid chair and although he had slept, he was still extremely tired. He could feel a cold draft coming in through a door on his right hand side, sending occasional shivers down his beaten body's spine. He had had enough; he just wanted to go home. What did he do so wrong? He didn't understand why he had to be the victim, why he had to be punished.

He needed some answers, something that will help him find out where he was. But how?

He screamed.

He screamed until his throat burned and his chest throbbed in agony, hoping that someone would hear him. That anyone would hear him. Suddenly he heard a bang and smiled. Someone was coming...

* * *

Arthur slowly sat down, not making eye contact with anyone in the room. _Him. _He was the one who caused this.

"It's… all my fault," Arthur said, "And don't anyone dare say otherwise because it was just proven."

"Arthur, you have done nothing wrong," Uther said. Arthur shook his head looking up at his father.

"But I must have, why else would Lance and Merlin be gone?"

"There are lots of other reasons," Gwaine said.

"So… its not me?"

"Unless you have had any serious personal issues with anyone in the past five years or… any time in your life for that matter, I don't see you being the absolute cause." Arthur creased his eyebrows.

"I honestly didn't think anyone could hate me that much," Arthur said. Cendred nodded, jumping slightly as his phone beeped in his pocket. As he checked it, he smiled to himself.

"What? What is it?" Gwen asked. Cendred stood up.

"Looks like we have our first lead ladies and gentlemen, they found Merlin's car."

* * *

"Hello?" Merlin called hoarsely into the darkness, "Is anyone there?"

"Yeah there's someone here," a voice called to him from the shadows. Merlin's heart jumped.

"Well, can you help me? You see I've been captur-"

"I know what has happened to you, and I'm sorry to say that I can't help you, Merlin." Merlin's eyes shot up.

"Who are you?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that Merlin, I answer only to one person and one person alone."

"And… who is that?" The man laughed out loud.

"Ha! As if I would tell you. You are a low life and my prisoner; I don't have to answer any questions that you ask me."

Merlin sighed, "Why me?" He whispered.

"Well you see Merlin; life is something I like to compare to chess. It's a complicated game, sometimes you lose and sometimes you win. In some games, you may try to throw off your opponent, by doing something unconventional, only to surprise them right at the last moment. Other times, moves have to be planned ahead so precisely, so… critically, that one single slip up may cause the whole game to fall through your fingertips. But most importantly, my dear Merlin, sometimes even some of the most valuable players have to be sacrificed in order to achieve the main goal. Life is what we make of it, Merlin. It's us against the rest of the world, no matter who we know, no matter who helps, or doesn't help us along the way. To get what we want we have to be smart, cunning, and greedy. Good things don't come to those who wait; it's just the leftovers of the people that got there first. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"Not… really."

"Let me spell it out for you. Your capture was important; however… your existence after that moment is not. So if my boss tells me to, I will kill you right now." Merlin gulped.

"However, he has asked me to keep you and that other idiot alive until the one he really wants comes along."

"Arthur," Merlin murmured.

"Yes, your fucking dear Pendragon lover. Oh don't look so surprised, Merlin. We know all about your relationship with that blond asshole. It was a hitch in the plan, until we were able to use it to our advantage. We didn't think the moron would actually fall for you."

"Where's Lance?" Merlin interrupted. "What have you done with him?"

"I don't think I hit you over the head hard enough," the man said, "Your mouth is still much too big, and you are having trouble following simple instructions. You have no right to ask for information like that."

"Tell me where he is," Merlin demanded with the little energy he still had left.

"He's here… somewhere. The boss decided it was better to stay closer to him because he has federal training, so he decided to do it himself. Funny little chap that Lance, screamed like a bitch when he was bought in."

"Don't talk about him like that," Merlin said through his teeth.

"Oh but I will. You've put me in the mood to give him a good beating after we're done here," the man replied. Merlin shook his head.

"You're sick."

"No… not really. We just like to keep our eye on the prize and do whatever we want, without any limits. We make our own rules Merlin, so I suggest you keep your mouth shut." Merlin bit his lip and looked down.

"What about Arthur? Why do you want him?"

"It's personal," the man said, "for both of us. We just want to have a little chat with him, sort some things out."

"And how do you expect to bring him here?" The man smiled.

"Now that my friend, is where you come in."

* * *

Arthur closed the door of his car and walked around the corner of the street where everyone was meeting. He was extremely anxious to get out there, see what he could find out to help him save his two friends. He sighted his father and Morgana walking towards him with Val and Gwen following closely behind. The forensics team were already there, their van and some of their equipment along the road. Maybe it was the fact that they had actually made some process, but Arthur had developed this sudden fierce determination to do whatever he could to get Merlin back instead of blaming himself for his disappearance. He got to the car in full professional mode and Uther smiled.

"Hello, I'm glad you could all make it," Cendred said walking up to the group.

"What is it? What... what have you found?" Val asked almost desperately. Cendred sighed.

"Well, the car is pretty much clean. I'm so sorry." Arthur's face fell. That was their only lead, and it was a dead end.

"Eh! Boss!" Everyone turned to see Gwaine calling them over a few metres away from the car.

"What is it Gwaine?"

"I found something in the trash can; I think it's the remains of Merlin's wallet."

"Let me see," Arthur said immediately rushing up to Gwaine's side. Sure enough inside the weathered piece of navy leather was Merlin's driver's license and a few coffee shop vouchers. Arthur looked at the picture like it was last time he would ever see Merlin's face again. Morgana stroked his arm. He looked up at Gwaine and nodded, almost groaning as he pulled the wallet away from Arthur to collect as evidence for the case.

"Is there anything else there?" Uther asked. Gwaine pulled his glove up his arm and reached into the trash can. He searched for a while before pulling his arm back out.

"That's Merlin's phone!" Gwen exclaimed and Cendred smiled.

"It's not on is it?"

"No its not," Arthur said, "I tried calling it like three hundred times." Gwaine bagged the phone as well. Cendred looked at the group.

"I'm sorry for calling you out here for so little. I had hoped we could have discovered more with what we had found today."

"We don't care," Morgana said, "any step in the right direction is good enough for us." The rest of the group nodded.

"Well, we shall drive back to the office now," Uther said, "thank you so much for all of your efforts."

"It is our duty and our pleasure sir," Gwaine replied.

"Hang on," Val said raising his finger in the air and staring into the distance, "Does anyone hear that?"

Arthur stared at him strangely and then realised what he was talking about.

"My mobile is ringing; I left it in the car."

"Well go get it," Gwen said.

"I'm not in the mood right now," Arthur said. The ringing stopped.

"Now you missed the call you fool," Morgana said sternly. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"If it was important, they will call back." Uther nodded.

The phone began to ring again. Arthur groaned and ran towards his car, grabbing his phone out of the glove compartment.

"Hello?" He said annoyed.

* * *

"Hello?" He repeated, this time almost ready to hang up.

"_A…Arthur?"_ Arthur almost fell over.

"Merlin? Oh thank the gods you're alright. You are alright are you?" Morgana looked up at hearing Merlin's name.

"_Yes, I'm fine Arthur."_

"I've been worried sick about you. Where are you?"

"_I…I can't tell you that Arthur."_

"What? What do you mean you can't tell me?" Gwaine set up to trace the call.

"_I just can't Arthur."_

"Why the fuck not? Oh, there's someone there with you isn't there? I swear to God, if they have hurt you in any way, I will…"

"_Arthur, relax please. Just try to be calm."_

"Calm? You expect me to be calm after you have been kidnapped. Who is this guy Merlin?"

"_I… I don't know."_

"I will kill him if he lays a hand on you Merlin, you know I would." Arthur was breathing heavily now, Uther trying to silently calm his son down.

"_I know you would Arthur, but let's not talk about it right now OK? Listen, I don't have much time to talk."_

"What do you mean?"

"_You've got to listen to me Arthur, and you've got to listen really carefully. These people…here…"_

"Merlin… Merlin you're whispering what's going on?"

"_I can't… I don't know how long I will be able to stay here, before they…"_

"Before they… Before they what Merlin? You need to talk to me please."

"_Arthur…"_

"Merlin no! Please… please don't go. I miss you so much. Please…"

"_The power of life and death lies with those who think they can play God."_

"I don't understand what you are saying to me." Uther whispered that he is probably suffering the after effects of some hallucinogenic drugs, and has lost his train of thought.

"_The darkness… destructed by a great light."_

"Merlin… please come back to me. Focus."

"_The light to Albion which leads to the crossroads of the lunch of the dead. Forever gone, but not forgotten."_

"You are on drugs Merlin; please try to see some sort of sense."

"_Mourning forever at the loss of one leader. Turned as hard as stone." _Arthur shook his head.

"Merlin!"

There was silence.

"_I'm hungry Arthur… can you come give me some food?"_

"Merlin you've been kidnapped remember?" Arthur heard a giggle on the other end.

"_Oh yeah… I forgot about that."_

"Listen Merlin, you need to focus. Is there anything else you can tell be about where you are?"

"_Um…" _Arthur waited.

"Merlin…"

The line when dead. Arthur looked at his phone. They had spoken for over seven minutes. It had only felt like he had heard his lover's voice for two seconds. He sighed and chucked his mobile back in his car.

"Were you able to get a trace on the number? Gwaine shook his head.

"It was from an unregistered phone and someone somehow removed the satellite chip. We have nothing."

Arthur nodded and got in his car and drove back to his apartment. The rest of the group followed suit, Gwen and Val going to Merlin's apartment, and Morgana and Uther back to headquarters. They all knew Merlin was in trouble, they just didn't think they would have to hear it.

* * *

Merlin put the phone back and shoved the hand that was on his shoulder away.

"Very good, Merlin. I didn't take you for an actor."

"Shut the fuck up you sick bastard."

"Naw, that hurt," his captor said.

"Why couldn't you get Lance to do that?"

"I thought it would be more fun with you doing it. Makes more of an impact, lost love than lost friendship and all." Merlin was fuming.

"You couldn't just let me talk to him so he could get worried. No, you had to make me start speaking pure gibberish so it makes me look like I was on some sort of drug."

"Or a complete vegetable."

"Yeah, but now anything I told them is just going to be seen as random contact with them, not anything they can actually use in the investigation. They wouldn't take any of that seriously."

"Exactly my dear friend! I couldn't very well give you the opportunity to speak to Arthur and spill the beans on our whereabouts now could I?"

"I don't even know where we are," Merlin said through his teeth. He knew the man was just trying to play with him now.

"Oh come now Merlin, we both know that's not true. You are so much smarter than you give yourself credit for." The man walked around Merlin.

"However, I am not going to give you the satisfaction of confirming your suspicions."

"Why not? That's pretty much the only conversation I'm ever going to have with Arthur before I die."

"And what makes you say that?" Merlin raised his head.

"No."

"Oh yes. But, I have a strange feeling… that we won't get around to that second conversation." Merlin stared blankly at him.

"Why?" His captor smiled and began to walk away.

"You shall find out soon enough."

* * *

Arthur lay on his bed replaying the conversation that he had had earlier with Merlin. Oh, it was so good to hear his voice again. He missed him terribly; talking to him was like opening another wound in his chest next to the one that had been there from the start.

He sighed. Merlin had been completely off his face when that conversation took place and probably would not even remember that they had even spoken to each other. The words of the conversation kept playing over and over in his head.

"_The power of life and death lies with those who think they can play God."_

Power, death, God

"_The darkness… destructed by a great light."_

Destructed, great light

"_The light to Albion which leads to the cross…crossroads of the lunch of the dead. Forever gone, but not forgotten."_

Albion, leads, cross… lunch of the dead, not forgotten

"_Mourning forever at the loss of one leader. Turned as hard as stone."_

Mourning, one leader, stone.

Arthur put his hands over his face. What the hell was he thinking? He groaned and turned on his side trying to get to sleep.

Albion…

Cross… leads

Power…God…stone

Mourning… not forgotten

Destructed… Power great light

Death… one leader… lunch of the dead

Albion... God… Cross…Destructed…Great light….

Arthur sat bolt upright in his bed, breathing heavily. He could not believe he hadn't seen it before. He jumped out of bed, grabbing his jacket and his key and ran out the door. Sprinting towards his car, he got in and turned on the engine. He put both hands on the wheel and gripped it with sheer determination. He smiled.

"You just watch me bastard. I'm coming for my Merlin."

* * *

**WOOT!**

**Well, I'm glad I finally got this one out. Might not be as good, since I'm easing back into it after a couple of mouths. **

**Fair warning, some people might not get some parts, so if you think you have:**

**SEND ME A PRIVATE MESSAGE, do not post it as a review. Don't spoil it for other people please…**

**I know you're mad, but guys, please review. It gets me motivated to write some more. :D**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	24. Chapter 24 Part 1 of 2

**Hello peoples! I know I should probably be six feet under for not updating for so long. Please accept my most sincere apologies. I miss you guys. But I am back and writing! Thank you to all those people who reviewed the last chapter, although you probably don't remember because you did it such a long time ago :D**

**Here is the next chapter then. I know I left you guys on a really bad cliffie last time. **

**This chapter is dedicated to my friend **_**Catindahat**_**. I told you you'd be my inspiration girl. :D**

**Hope you guys enjoy it! xox**

**Chapter 24**

Arthur was severely pissed off and extremely happy at the same time. Extremely happy because he hoped he had figured out where Merlin was, and severely pissed off at himself for not thinking of it sooner! Who would be sick enough to take Merlin and Lance to the place where his mother had died? The place that Arthur promised himself he would never step into again. He took a deep breath and pulled the car over about two streets away from Albion Road.

It suddenly dawned on him exactly where he was going. Was he really ready to go in? Would going in make him choose between the memory of his mother, and his affection for Merlin? Would he become so overwhelmed being there, that he wouldn't be able to help Merlin at all? He lent his head against the steering wheel. He needed to help Merlin and Lance, he just… had to. Lance was his best friend. If he were here, he would be telling him not to give up. He would want him to fight. He started the car again. That church took away his mother; there was no way he was going to let it take them away too.

* * *

Morgana paced in Arthur's apartment.

"How could he have been so stupid? I know he's figured out where Merlin is and has gone to find him on his own."

"He was just doing what he thought was right," Val said from Arthur's couch.

"But that doesn't make it actually right! God, I can't believe he's done this. He's not even answering his phone. What if something happens to him?" Val got up from the couch and wrapped his arms around Morgana.

"Hey, it's going to be alright. Arthur's a big boy, and if cares about Merlin and Lance as much as I think he does, he's going to do whatever he can to keep them safe." Morgana sobbed.

"That's what I'm worried about Val," she said looking up at him, "What if he cares so much… that he would do _anything _to keep them safe? What if gets himself killed?"

Val smiled sadly and kissed her forehead.

"They are going to OK Morgana, they both are. Merlin is so smart and analytical. Arthur is head strong and one brave bloke. Lance is more skilled that people give him credit for. Together they are unstoppable. In a couple of hours they are going to come back to us, together. You will see."

"How do you know?" She asked. Val lent down and lightly kissed her causing her to look at him in shock. He smiled.

"Because I have a knack for future telling," he said and chuckled as Morgana kissed him again.

* * *

Arthur stepped of his car, closing the door quietly. He walked slowly around the corner towards his destination with his gun out in front of him, ready to shoot anyone that got in his way. He had never actually had to use that gun before during his career so this was actually a good time to start. As he continued on, he could see the church starting to come into view. It was as high and mighty as he remembered although one side of the roof had a hole in it, the rest looking on the verge of collapse. There were weeds taking up the whole from garden and continuing into the back. It made Arthur wonder why they had never rebuilt this place.

He worked his way through the weeds and ended up towards the back of the church. There was a slight hole in the wall which Arthur was just able to squeeze through and he was finally inside.

The inside of the church smelt like ash and moss. Arthur almost wanted to block his nose the smell was that disgusting. Looking around, Arthur began to see snippets of the day his mother died, but his gritted his teeth and forced them into the back of his mind. He needed to find Merlin and Lance. He put one foot forward causing the floor to creek loudly. He stopped dead.

"Did you hear something?" He heard from a distance behind him. Shit.

"Nah man, I didn't hear anything."

"Well… let's make sure to keep our ears open yeah? Cause I was pretty sure I heard something."

There was silence, and after Arthur's breathing had returned to normal, he continued walking. It was dark in most of the room, only tiny bits of light coming through the holes in the wall since all the windows were covered. He tripped over something.

"Damn it," He cursed. He eyes widened and he slapped a hand over his mouth.

"OK, that time I definitely heard something."

"Me too, let's check it out."

He heard footsteps and did the only thing he thought reasonable. He ran.

He could hear voices screaming at him from behind and started running even faster when he began to hear gun shots. He turned a corner and shot hearing a loud groan coming from one of the men. He smiled and turned around only to smash straight through a door.

He crumpled to the ground groaning as he collected himself, then started to force pieces of wood off of himself. He stood up and brushed himself off. He looked up and gasped.

There sitting right there looking at him, was Merlin. Arthur could barely breathe. He looked so beaten up. He was tied tightly to a wooden chair with his hands behind his back. His clothes and face were all dirty and he had a cut just above his right eyebrow. His mouth was open in shock and his eyes were wide.

"Merlin…" Arthur breathed. Merlin smiled.

"Arthur… Arthur you," his smile faded turning quickly into one of panic, "Look out!"

Before Arthur could turn around, everything went black.

* * *

"I'm sorry to bother you with this Mr Prime Minister, I just needed someone to talk to." Gaius smiled.

"That's perfectly alright Uther, you are one of my oldest friends after all. What's going on?"

Uther sighed.

"I'm worried about Arthur."

"Ah, when are you not worried about Arthur?"

"Never." Both the men laughed.

"I feel he has been different, Gaius."

"Different?" He leaned forward towards his friend.

"Yes, like… he knows something that everyone else doesn't and he doesn't want anyone to find out. It's strange."

"When did this start?" Uther pressed his eyebrows in concentration.

"After he got the phone call from Merlin."

"That's enough to shake someone up Uther, getting a phone call from their lost lover." Uther's eyes widened.

"Lover? How did you know?"

"It was fairly obvious Uther," he said, "I knew their ridiculous banter was more than that of friends."

"That doesn't bother you?" Gaius laughed.

"Of course not Uther. I'm not homophobic. I'm glad that Arthur has finally found someone he cares about, especially after his mother passed away." Uther nodded.

"I'm glad too."

"Arthur's been looking for Merlin and his friend frantically hasn't he?"

"Yes he has."

"Do you think he has made any progress?"

"I'm not sure, he would have gone out on his own if he had."

"It's a bit late for that Uther," Morgana said walking through the door with Val, Gwen and Freya close on her heels.

"What do you mean?" Gaius asked.

"Arthur's car is gone and he's not answering his phone." Uther gasped.

"He figured it out from the phone call," he said.

"That's right," Morgana said, "and that means…"

"That he's walking right into danger. And…"

"That not even we know where he is," Freya finished.

"Should I call the police? Get some of my people looking for Arthur's car?"

"That would be wonderful that you Prime Minister," Morgana said and Gaius left the room in a hurry. Uther put his face in his hands. Gwen walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"He'll be alright, Mr Pendragon. You know that."

"I do," he said, "I just hope he doesn't take playing the hero too far."

* * *

**I know this is really short, but I've had this half written for ages. I just thought I would give you something. i'm such a bad person :( I'll try and get the next chapter up really soon and it will be longer I promise.**

**Until next time,**

**Xox**

**emiliexox**


	25. Chapter 24 Part 2 of 2

**Before I say anything I really don't want to die. **

**Anyways, I profusely apologise for not updating this story sooner. I feel really bad for all the messages and reviews I've been getting asking me when I'm going to be updating and what not. After a long wait… I don't know how many months, I am back! And I really wanted to give you a chapter before my exams start.**

**Well here it is.**

**Enjoy xx**

* * *

**Chapter 24 Part 2…**

Arthur groaned loudly as he opened his eyes to… black? Why was it so black? He moved his head. Ah right, a blindfold. He knew that his arms were tied behind his back so he decided upon coughing.

"Ah, you finally come to, Pendragon," a voice said pulling the blindfold harshly away from his eyes. He blinked furiously trying to adjust to the light in the room.

"It would have been sooner if you hadn't of hit me so hard," Arthur said not thinking it through, and then instantly regretted it when he heard chuckling.

"If that's the case, then I obviously didn't hit you hard enough."

Arthur looked up and eyed his captor for the first time. He was young, probably mid-twenties with dark hair. He wasn't very big, so he probably wasn't the one that dragged him here.

"Who are you?" Arthur said.

"Like I said to your _boyfriend _Arthur, that needn't concern you." Arthur's eye lit up at the mention of Merlin.

"Where's Merlin? What have you done with him?"

"Don't worry, Pendragon. Your boy toy is safe…for now."

He gritted his teeth, struggling furiously against his restrains that were digging painfully into his wrists. He needed to get out of this chair. Needed to go and look for Merlin. To hold him, and tell him that everything was going to be alright. Then he was going to god damn crack this man's smart ass face.

"What do you want with me?" The man smiled.

"That is simple and complicated at the same time. You see a few years back I lost something that was very dear to me, something that for some peculiar reason is in your possession."

"Which is?" Arthur said sounding somewhat sarcastic. The man laughed.

"Let me make this a little clearer for you Arthur Pendragon. The thing you took away from me was Merlin."

"Merlin? Wait… you're Will aren't you?"

"Finally you ask something right."

"Merlin was never your possession; he was and is still a human being! How dare you speak about him like that, not after what you did to him!" Will smiled.

"Oh, so he has told you about me then? That's nice of him." Arthur shook his head.

"What is the matter with you?"

"You still aren't getting this are you?" Will moved forward so he was inches away from Arthur's face.

"I want _Merlin _back."

* * *

Merlin screamed Arthur's name as he watched him being dragged away by a group of henchman into another part of the dark compound. Seeing him… seeing Arthur, had given him more hope in one moment than he had ever had in his entire life. Arthur hadn't given up on him and his heart burst thinking about what Arthur must have gone through to find him. Now he was gone and once again it was all his fault.

A man walked past him and he addressed him.

"What have you done to him? Where are you taking Arthur?"

"Oh don't worry, you will see him soon enough." Tears formed in Merlin's eyes.

* * *

"That is it! Arthur is by far the stupidest person on the planet!"

"You have to calm down."

"No I bloody well don't!"

"Can somebody do something please? I don't want people to get hurt."

"I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill him. He is dead."

"Uther can you please stop yelling?"

Uther stopped pacing and turned to face the four worried friends.

"I'm sorry. I just… I can't believe that he would do something this stupid! This sort of action goes against everything he was taught in his training and he knows it. I just… I think I should…" Morgana walked up to him and put an arm around his shoulder.

"He's going to be OK. They all are. The Prime Minister's people are looking for his car as we speak. They are the best, and we are all confident that they will find him. You should be too." Uther sighed.

"OK." His pocket vibrated.

"Hello. Yes Gaius. Yes. You did? Oh thank goodness, we will be right there." He ended the call.

"What is it Mr Pendragon?" Val asked.

"They have found Arthur's car about an hour from here."

"Well do you know where that is?" Morgana asked. Uther nodded his head.

"Yes… yes I do."

* * *

"Alright Arthur, time for you to finally be reunited with your fuck buddy."

"He is not my fuck buddy you asshole, he is my fucking boyfriend. Get it right," Arthur spat his head pulsing with pain.

"Whatever man," the thug said giving him a shove. "Let's get going."

Arthur struggled with the binds behind his back as he was lead through a long corridor to where a small group of people were standing. Arthur took this time to take a look at his surroundings. The whole place looked like it was going under repairs. The roof had holes in it so the whole place smelt of rotting wood and had moss growing everywhere. There was little light, except for the holes in the roof that is, and small tables and chairs still remained. Arthur swallowed as he was pushed forward. The small crowd of three separated and Arthur gasped as Merlin ran towards him wrapping his arms tightly around the blonde detective.

"Oh my god Arthur I missed you so much," Merlin whispered into his ear. Arthur wished he could free himself and hug Merlin back. He pulled away so he could look at Merlin in the face.

"I'm so glad you are alright," he said.

"You too. But Arthur you have to listen to me. You need to get out of here. I was just the bait- the real person they want is you."

"I know."

"You know?" Merlin said taken aback. "What do you mean you know? If you knew then why are you here? Why would you just put yourself in danger for no reason at all?" Arthur laughed.

"But I did do it for a reason you idiot. I came to get you." Merlin smiled.

"How did you even know that I was here?"

"Now that," a voice said from inside the small crowd, "Is what I would like to know."

The man that Arthur had met earlier stepped out and Merlin's eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"Will?"

"Hello my dear."

* * *

"But… what… how?"

"Oh Merlin you did speak stupidly when you were nervous, and when we were getting dirty…"

"You shut your mouth you foul bastard. Don't you dare talk to Merlin that way." Merlin put a hand on his arm.

"Arthur it's OK."

"No it's not OK, Merlin. Do you know the type of things he says about you behind your back? And now that he's saying them to your face is making me twice as angry." Will laughed at the two of them.

"I'd watch your mouth too if I were you Arthur. I'm still yet to bring Lance out here." Arthur let go of Merlin and stepped in between them.

"Where _is_ Lance?"

"A wild spirit that one, I'll have to have someone go and check if he is still alive." Arthur growled.

"Why would you do this Will?" Merlin asked. "What did we ever do to you?" Will narrowed his eyes and slowly walked towards the two of them.

"When you left me Merlin, I lost everything. I lost my respect at the police station when everyone found out what happened and almost lost my job. I was never treated professionally again. My parents won't talk to me, my sister. They all loved you and thought you were the best person for me. And I lost them all, and it was all your fault."

"My fault? How is this my fault? You cheated on me!" Merlin said. Will stopped.

"Yeah that was your fault too. We were engaged Merlin, and you still didn't want to have sex with me."

"That's because I wanted to wait."

"We were going to get married anyway, one day wouldn't have mattered." Merlin was getting mad now and started to walk up to Will but was quickly grabbed by two men. Arthur tried to help him but was easily dragged away by another man. Will smirked.

"As I said, it wouldn't have mattered."

"It did to me."

"Of course, you and your love and flowers and rainbows. Oh please, spare me before I throw up." Merlin shook his head.

"What happened to you? You are nothing like the Will I used to know."

"People change Merlin, and they move on. I just don't know why it had to be with this fuckwit," Will said pointing at Arthur. Arthur glared in return.

"You want to know the reason I got together with him? Because he treats me like a human being. I never belonged to him, we belong to each other and I am happier than I have ever been. That's something you will never understand."

"But I could," Will said, walking forward and running his fingers up and down Merlin's arm. "I could know what it was like if you gave me another chance." Merlin scoffed.

"In your dreams."

"Oh but Merlin, you have to know that we were so good together," Will said moving his hand to Merlin's face, "Those two years were the best years of your life, you have to admit that."

"Get your hands off of him," Arthur said earning him a kick in the crutch from Will. Arthur not being able to help himself, fell to his knees.

"Stop it Will! Stop hurting him!"

"Alright fine. How about I make you a deal my dear Merlin?" Will said his face coming closer to Merlin's.

"I will stop hurting Arthur and even let him go, if you agree to give yourself to me, forever." Merlin gasped and Arthur's head shot up.

"Mer-lin… please don't do this," Arthur said. Will laughed. Merlin said nothing.

"You're thinking about it aren't you Merlin? You have been since you left me, what it would have been like to make sweet love to me for the first time."

"No he hasn't!" Arthur yelled. Merlin looked at him with sad eyes.

"Let me get this straight," Merlin said slowly, "If I go with you, you will let Arthur go and never touch him again?"

"That is what I said," Will answered. Merlin bit his lip and looked at Arthur. It hurt him to see him in so much pain because of him. He needed Arthur to be safe.

"Fine," Merlin said, "You have a deal." Will grinned.

"Merlin no!" Arthur said struggling against his captors. "Merlin please, please don't. This is what he wants."

"I'm sorry Arthur," Merlin said, "If this is the only way to get you out of here, I have to do it."

"No," Arthur began to sob, "No. I'm not going to let you go. Not after everything we have been through together."

"Let them say their goodbyes," Will ordered, "We will leave after that." The men unhanded both of them and Arthur got up and ran straight into Merlin's arms.

"Stop crying you prat," Merlin said, "I'll be OK."

"No you bloody well wont!" Arthur said, "Not when you're hanging around with that lunatic."

"All he wants is to be the first to take me and then I'll escape somehow," Merlin said, "He's a sad excuse for a man." Arthur's eyes went wide.

"Ah, you do realise that there is going to be a problem with that plan Merlin." Merlin looked at him confused.

"Why?"

"Because we already slept together, on my birthday," Arthur whispered. Merlin smiled.

"Oh yeah, how could I forget?"

"It wasn't that memorable for you? I feel cheated." Merlin lightly smacked his arm.

"Shut up. I still stand by what I said Arthur, being with you that night, was the best moment of my life." Arthur kissed his forehead.

"Me too."

"HOLD IT!" Merlin and Arthur turned to Will who looked extremely mad.

"What? You said we could say goodbye." Will walked straight up to Merlin, pulled him away from Arthur and looked at him dead in the eye. The next thing he said shook everyone to the bone.

"You spread your legs for him, didn't you Merlin?"

* * *

**HEY! Once again I am so sorry, but I hope that this chapter made up for all the time that has gone past. I will definitely post the next chapter in the next couple of weeks.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! Even if it is just to scream at me for taking so long.**

**Thanks.**

**Until next time,**

**xox**

**emiliexox**


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